Imran Khan In Jail Amidst News of Upcoming Federal Election

By Mahvish Akhtar

Pakistan’s government institutions have been dissolved to prepare for an upcoming national election later this year. These elections would have to be held without former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was jailed on 5th August 2023 for three years.

He has also been barred from politics for the next five years. Pakistani President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, on Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s advice late Wednesday evening. Imran Khan was arrested from his residence in the eastern city of Lahore after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts. 

The 70-year-old politician was accused of misusing his premiership from 2018 to 2022 to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees.

“His dishonesty has been established beyond doubt,” Judge Humayun Dilawar wrote in the ruling. “He has been found guilty of corrupt practices by hiding the benefits he accrued from the national exchequer willfully and intentionally.” The verdict includes a PKR 100,000 fine ($355), which could amount to six months in jail if unpaid.

His lawyers have assured the public that they have filed a petition against this decision in the high court. The ruling against Khan was not unexpected. Since his removal from office following a no-confidence motion in April 2022 and his increasingly confrontational stance with the military, which he blamed for his downfall, many believed it was only a matter of time before Khan would lose his freedom completely. It’s the second time Khan has been detained this year.

Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb denied Khan’s arrest had anything to do with upcoming elections. Aurangzeb added that Khan has been “proven guilty of illegal practices, corruption, concealing assets and wrongly declaring wealth in tax returns.” 

In a previously recorded video message, Khan told his supporters that he would be in jail when this message reached them and that they should not sit quietly in their homes. “I am not doing this for my freedom,” he said. “I am doing this for you, the nation- your children’s future. If you don’t stand up for your rights, you will live the life of enslaved people, and enslaved people do not have a life.” 

He urged people to protest peacefully until they get their rights. He urged them to oppose a government of their choice through voting and “not the one like today’s occupying power.” In the recorded video, Imran Khan was sitting behind a desk. It is unknown where this video was recorded or how long ago it was recorded. 

In early June 2023, Khan sat down for an interview with The Intercept publication and repeated the allegations that some outside forces were working to take him out of the Pakistani political market. When requested for comment at the time, The State Department referred to previous denials in response. As Khan’s political career has made evident at every point he lost or was pushed out of the government, it was because foreign hands were at work. 

We know this much as a fact that he screamed it from the literal rooftops and microphones. He said it in interviews. He told it to whoever would listen and to whoever needed more time to listen. Throughout this whole back and forth, his opponents and the U.S. and other foreign state departments kept calling these the ramblings of a man desperate to hold on to power. Imran Khan kept pushing for immediate elections in Pakistan and promised that whenever elections were held, he would win.

Some documents were obtained by the journalist who interviewed Khan at The Intercept. This document, known as the “cipher, ” was finally explained and leaked to the public. According to the document, one month after the meeting with U.S. officials documented in the leaked Pakistani government document, a no-confidence vote was held in Parliament, leading to Khan’s removal from power. The vote is believed to have been organized with the backing of Pakistan’s powerful military.   The U.S. State Department encouraged the Pakistani government in a March 7, 2022, meeting to remove Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On many occasions, The United States has repeatedly denied that Lu spoke to the Pakistani government about ousting the PM. On April 8th, 2022, after Khan alleged there was a message proving his claims of U.S. interference, State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said, “Let me just say very bluntly there is absolutely no truth to these allegations.”

However, in the actual document, Lu raises the issue of a no-confidence vote against the former Prime Minister quite clearly, “I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister, Lu said according to the document. “Otherwise, it will be tough going forward,” he continued. 

Baluchistan Governor and Pakistani Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was named caretaker Prime Minister to oversee national elections. The Pakistan PM’s office said on Saturday following a meeting between outgoing Premier Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz. The Baluchistan government will be dissolved until the upcoming elections take place. 

Anwaarul Haq Kakar-will become Pakistan’s 8th interim PM.