Can the Pakistani Police Arrest Former PM Imran Khan?

With protests continuing in Pakistan amid an escalating political crisis, and days after the issuance of an arrest warrant against him, Pakistani police tried last week to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Lahore but could not find him.

Indeed, the security force was unable to arrest Khan, the country’s only PM to be ousted by a parliamentary no-confidence vote in Pakistan’s volatile 75-year political history.

Khan faces a slew of cases against him, ranging from terrorism to attempted murder and money laundering, and most of the cases, which the former cricketer describes as a sham, were filed after his ouster.

The attempt to arrest Imran Khan comes as relations between Khan and the ruling authorities are very tense.

Khan had survived an assassination attempt on November 3, 2022, that targeted him while he was among his supporters at a rally he organized in Punjab province, during which he sustained minor injuries.

Khan then accused PM Shahbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and a senior military officer of being behind the assassination attempt without providing evidence, accusations the three denied.

Since his overthrow, Khan has been pressing for early elections by organizing rallies, withdrawing from Parliament, and dissolving two regional assemblies controlled by his party to twist the government’s arm.

Pakistan, with a population of 220 million, is facing an economic crisis with soaring inflation, insufficient hard currency reserves, and stalled negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

 

Arrest Warrant

A troubled night has passed in Pakistan after a failed attempt by the Pakistani police to arrest the former PM Imran Khan, who faces a series of court cases and is pressuring the government to organize early elections.

This security move on March 5, 2023, to arrest Khan was met by supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who blocked several streets leading to his heavily fortified residence and surrounded police personnel, forcing them to leave the site after a one-hour standoff.

Another picture showed a senior police officer surrounded by angry workers from Khan’s party, some of them carrying sticks and several placards of solidarity with Khan.

In its first reactions, the Pakistani police warned of the consequences of obstructing the implementation of the judicial decision to arrest Khan.

Later, Imran Khan addressed his party members at his home while the police remained outside: “I was called in on bogus cases. It would not bode well for the country if the nation does not stand up to the corrupt rulers.”

On February 28, 2022, a Pakistani court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the former PM, while his supporters called for continued protests, as reported by the Associated Press.

The court in the capital, Islamabad, said Khan had missed a hearing on charges of selling government gifts and concealing his assets.

Since the overthrow of his government in April 2022, Imran Khan has been facing prosecutions that some consider to be politically motivated to put pressure on him.

According to the indictment, Imran Khan is accused of selling some of the gifts that were given to him while he was PM—forbidden in Pakistani law—which caused a ruling by the Elections Commission to exclude him from any political position or to prevent him from running in elections for up to 5 years.

Government officials must declare all gifts they receive, but they are allowed to keep gifts whose price is less than a certain amount.

The second case is related to terrorism, as Khan was accused of terrorism and incitement to murder due to the gathering of large numbers of his supporters to protest the decision of the Election Commission, as the government accused them of breaking and vandalizing public property.

In addition to the charge of prohibited funding, the Election Commission of Pakistan said in August 2022 that the PTI party received illegal foreign funding from 16 secret bank accounts.

 

Political Chaos

In the same context, Fawad Chaudhry, former Pakistani Information Minister and Khan’s aide, warned, in a press conference in Lahore, Sharif’s government of a nationwide protest in the event of Imran Khan’s arrest.

“Khan could not be arrested because he had secured preventive protection bail from a high court,” Chaudhry said.

“The government wanted to sow political chaos and avoid early elections by arresting the former PM, who remains popular with the country’s youth and urban voters,” he added.

Tensions have escalated in the country since the accusations against Khan were issued in August 2022, as supporters of the former Pakistani leader gathered outside his home and vowed to seize the capital if he was arrested.

The PTI Vice President Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters that the note they received from the Islamabad police did not include any arrest warrant.

On his part, the Pakistani Interior Minister said in a brief statement, “If the government wants to arrest Imran Khan, it will arrest him despite all obstacles,” without disclosing further details.

Pakistani courts are often used to launch long and arduous procedures to crack down on political opposition, according to human rights advocates.

On April 11, 2022, Parliament elected Shehbaz Sharif, the former opposition leader, as Pakistan’s PM, succeeding Imran Khan.

Khan has been calling for early elections since he was ousted in a parliamentary vote in April 2022, a demand rejected by his successor, PM Sharif, who said the elections would go ahead as scheduled later this year.

Hours after an arrest warrant was issued against Imran Khan and the police failed to locate and arrest him, Pakistan’s Media Regulatory Authority banned all media appearances of the former PM, VOA reported.

The authority warned that any media outlet’s violation of the decision will lead to the revocation of its license, noting that the ban applies to all recorded and direct speeches by Khan.

The ban was issued after a fiery speech delivered by Khan, in which he criticized the government and the army, while the commission justified the ban because of what it described as Khan’s baseless allegations, accusing him of spreading hatred against institutions and state employees, which would harm the maintenance of law and order.

Hours after the announcement, the ARY News channel, which had supported Khan, was also suspended by the authorities.

Pakistan’s constitution allows for the restriction of freedom of expression in order to preserve public order or morals, a provision used to stifle political dissent, according to human rights advocates.

 

Khan’s Policy

More than a month after his promise, on January 18, 2023, former PM Imran Khan announced that his party had dissolved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab Parliament in an attempt to pressure the federal government to hold early general elections.

Khan’s party controls two of the country’s four provincial councils, while the other two chambers are subject to his political opponents, who also control the federal government led by PM Shahbaz Sharif and who have said they will not hold general and local elections before their scheduled date in November 2023.

Punjab, which is controlled by Khan’s party, is the most populous province in Pakistan and is home to nearly half of the country’s 220 million people.

In late January, Imran Khan said, in an interview with Bloomberg, that he was confident of winning the upcoming elections and returning to power next summer, referring to the parliamentary elections to be held in August.

He pointed out that if he wins, he will support the stability of the role of the International Monetary Fund, warning that failure to do so will lead the situation in Pakistan to the fate of what Sri Lanka is facing.

Khan predicted that Pakistan would witness further economic deterioration until the possible election date, saying that he had prepared a plan to find radical solutions to the economic problem.

He stressed that he would pursue a policy of complete independence, especially from the United States and China.

Imran Khan raised concerns he had previously spoken of about the possibility of rigging the elections to prevent his return to power.

He also talked about a threat to his life, saying that although he survived the assassination attempt in November 2022, his life is still threatened.

The US Global Village Space website published a report on January 18, 2023, highlighting the similarities between Imran Khan’s current policy in Pakistan with that of former US President Franklin Roosevelt.

“Imran Khan’s bullet wound while he was out on a march towards Islamabad only increased his determination and determination to become the strongest stakeholder in Pakistan,” the site said.

Khan’s commitment to his country is reminiscent of US President Franklin Roosevelt’s determination to get his country back despite being diagnosed with polio in 1921.

Roosevelt continued his struggle to become one of the most influential figures in US history and is credited with propelling the nation out of the Great Depression into a period of prosperity, according to the website.

The website indicated that Khan’s commitment to improving the lives of Pakistanis is inspiring, and he is likely to achieve great achievements if he continues to persevere and become PM of Pakistan again.