Pakistani government seeks to ban Imran Khan's party – The Diplomat

The Pakistani government has announced plans to ban the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, and bring sedition charges against it and former president Arif Alvi, who is considered close to Khan.

The controversial move, which has sparked criticism and concerns about its impact on the country’s political stability, appears to have been motivated by the PTI’s ongoing confrontation with state institutions, particularly the powerful military. The PTI’s anti-military rhetoric has led it to directly target the military’s top leadership via social media platforms. These attacks have intensified since the February 2024 general elections.

The PTI appears increasingly frustrated as it accuses state institutions of interfering in its mandate during the elections. PTI leaders claim to have won a two-thirds majority in the February elections, but this was later snatched away.

The support of the judiciary has undoubtedly strengthened the PTI. The courts have offered relief to Khan and his party in many cases filed by the previous and current governments. The judiciary has even gone so far as to appear to rewrite the constitution in favour of the PTI. In a recent court petition, the Sunni Ithad Council, a PTI ally, demanded reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies, which had earlier been denied by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The Supreme Court ruled in favour of reserved seats.

Not only are the cases against Khan being stifled by the courts, but the PTI's position in parliament has also strengthened, with the party gaining more lawmakers after the Supreme Court's recent ruling allowing the PTI to reserve seats for women and minorities.

The government's decision to ban the PTI and prosecute its leaders for sedition is likely to be challenged. Successive governments' attempts to ban political parties have not succeeded. These efforts have often been rejected by the courts as unconstitutional and politically motivated. The proposed ban on the PTI could be summed up in the same argument.

It seems, however, that the Shehbaz Sharif government is failing to reach an agreement with Khan and the PTI on the political front, and that banning the party has become the next option. But it can also be argued that the government and its supporters within the state institutions feel more comfortable taking on the PTI more vigorously at this point. So why now?

The Sharif government may have been planning to ban the PTI for some time, but it could not announce it due to the country's economic woes and talks over a new bailout package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). With the negotiations with the IMF over, perhaps the time had come for the government to strike against the PTI.

The Islamabad High Court recently accepted Imran Khan’s request, granting him bail in a corruption case. Moreover, a local court acquitted Khan last month in two cases registered against him in connection with the violent protests that erupted after his arrest on May 9. Moreover, an Islamabad court last week acquitted the former prime minister and his wife Bushra Bibi in a controversial illegal marriage case. It seems that any new case filed against Khan is likely to meet the same fate and be decided in favor of the PTI founder.

These decisions may have convinced the Sharif government and the military that some sections of the judiciary are inclined to lend support to the PTI even in cases that require serious attention and investigation. This has prompted the government to challenge the court's directives and assert the supremacy of parliament, rather than paying attention to the decisions of the judiciary.

The federal cabinet is likely to approve the PTI ban proposal. This would pose a challenge to the judiciary and raise the question of who is the supreme power: Parliament or the judiciary?

Moreover, the government and the security services may be sending a strong message to the PTI and sections of the judiciary that support it to expedite trials in cases related to the May 9 riots. It is worth recalling that the PTI is accused of terrorism for inciting mutiny in the armed forces through violent attacks and riots on military installations on that day. The courts are dragging their feet in these cases and not taking them seriously, despite repeated calls from the military to deliver verdicts in these cases.

Pakistan thus appears more divided today than it was before the February 2024 general elections, when there was some hope that stability would return to the country after the elections. The situation appears to have deteriorated further, with sharp divisions now evident between the judiciary and the government, as well as the security services.

There appears to be no conciliator between the two sides at this stage. The situation could become even more complicated if the courts take further action that could be seen as undermining the interests of the government and the security services.

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