Imran Khan sustains yet more losses ahead of Pakistan polls

Mustafa Mohamed

The former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, continues to receive one painful blow after another.

Khan, the leader of opposition at home, has especially become vulnerable after a series of mass resignations in his Tehreek-e-Insaf Party.

The resignations followed two months of violent protests across Pakistan, ones that were described as a political rebellion against Khan.

The protests came at a critical time for the Pakistani former prime minister, while his country gears up for elections.

Observers confirmed, meanwhile, that the protests came amid mounting accusations against Khan.

Resignations

After two months of violent protests that shook Pakistan in early May, Khan received a decisive blow with the withdrawal of dozens of his supporters from his party to launch their own party before the parliamentary elections expected later this year.

The bloody violence subsided only after Khan was released by an order from the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

In the weeks that followed, a number of senior members of his party abandoned him, disagreeing with his campaign against the administration of his successor, current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

In an unprecedented move, 57 members of Khan’s party – most of them former MPs and other well-known politicians – announced their resignation from Tehreek-e-Insaf Party.

The same members said they would establish their own party. The new party, they said, would be called the Justice Movement Parliamentarians.

They also accused Khan of pursuing a “policy of hatred and confrontation” in the May violence.

One of the most prominent party members who broke ranks with Khan is Pervez Khattak, who served as defence minister in Khan’s government until the former cricket star and prime minister was ousted through a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022.

Khattak assured a gathering of former MPs and politicians in the city of Peshawar then that they would bring Khan’s life to hell in the upcoming elections, which are likely to be held in October or November this year.

Khan is appearing before three different courts in the capital, Islamabad, to follow up on the consideration of 16 cases against him.

He and his team are trying to obtain an extension of the bail granted to him previously in 11 different cases, where he was charged with disclosing official state secrets.

The same case involves the former prime minister, following diplomatic correspondences between Washington and Islamabad, where Khan said early last year that it is part of an “American conspiracy” to overthrow his government.

However, Washington denies involvement in any such conspiracy.