A Pakistani court yesterday suspended the arrest warrant against former Prime Minister Imran Khan after two days of protests by his supporters and clashes with police to end the detention. “They want me in jail so I can’t take part in the elections,” said the 70-year-old former cricketer, pointing to the current head of government. Shehbaz Sharif came to power in April last year after Khan lost a confidence vote in parliament.
The arrest warrant was issued by a court in Islamabad after the opposition leader failed to attend a summons on Friday. At issue is the lawsuit accusing him of failing to declare gifts he received in the three and a half years he was prime minister and the profit he earned when he sold them.
Khan, who was shot in the foot at a rally in November, has avoided traveling outside of Lahore (where he lives), claiming he is not in a medical condition. Last week, however, he was in Islamabad, where he appeared before three other courts to answer for various charges, including terrorism.
“I have no problem going to court because none of the lawsuits are holding up,” he said in remarks to the AFP journalist in Lahore, claiming that no case against him can be considered legitimate under the current government.
“The reason why this is happening is not because I broke the law,” he repeated, arguing that the goal is to keep him away from the election due until October – and he defends that it should be sooner. “This kidnapping has nothing to do with the rule of law. It is the law of the jungle.”
Sharif denies any involvement in the lawsuit and criticizes Khan for thinking he is above the law.
The leader of Pakistan’s Justice Movement praised his supporters, who surrounded the complex where he lives to prevent police from entering for more than 24 hours. “They came in force. Because they had no tanks, they had everything,” he told AFP.
Pakistan’s political crisis began on April 3 last year, when the deputy leader of the National Assembly rejected a vote of censure against Khan – who he claimed had an “external hand” from the US, in retaliation for his meeting in Pakistan. Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the day of the invasion of Ukraine.
Khan would eventually ask his party’s president, Arif Alvi, to dissolve parliament, but the Supreme Court found the decision not to vote on the censure motion unconstitutional.
The prime minister would lose the vote and be impeached. Sharif was elected to succeed him, in a vote that blocked the Pakistan Movement for Justice, with the support not only of his party, the Pakistan Muslim League, but also that of the Pakistan People’s Party and that of Islamist Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam – plus five other minor parties.
Since then, Khan has lobbied and rallied his supporters in marches across the country to force an early election.
Source: DN
