ISLAMABAD -

Former Pakistan Prime Minister and leader of the PTI leader Imran Khan has been granted temporary bail from an anti-terror court, amid ongoing political tensions in the country that analysts fear could turn violent.

Today, Thursday, Khan appeared before the Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan against the background of two cases filed against him at the weekend, after a demonstration organized by his party last Saturday.

The former prime minister was accused of threatening officials with accountability for allegedly torturing and ill-treating a party leader in the Pakistani police force, and violating Article 144 which prohibits gatherings of more than 4 people.

Khan obtained temporary bail in the first case until the first of next September, and he also obtained bail until the seventh of the same month in the second case.

The Islamabad High Court had ruled last Monday to give Imran Khan bail until Thursday to appear before the Anti-Terrorism Court, after it said that terrorism charges were not within its jurisdiction.

"Red line"

The area of ​​the Federal Judicial Complex witnessed tight security measures, according to Pakistani media, as police and security forces were deployed and the streets around the compound were closed.

For his part, Imran Khan's Instance Party, in a tweet on Twitter, called on his supporters to "go out on the streets and then go to Islamabad the next day if Imran Khan is arrested," and added an Urdu hashtag saying, "Imran Khan is our red line."

If Imran Khan is arrested, come out on the streets and then head to Islamabad the next day.

Clear directions from the party given!

# Imran_khan_hamari_riڈ_layen pic.twitter.com/X6BAJmgUR4

— PTI (@PTIofficial) August 25, 2022

In this context, journalist and political analyst Javed Rana says he believes that the government is in a state of panic in light of this situation.

Rana adds to Al Jazeera Net, "For several days, there were large gatherings of people around Imran Khan's house, and the government saw that in front of these crowds it was difficult to arrest him."

"So I think it is clear that the government is now focusing on prosecuting him through the courts, and the court today has given him bail, and this is an indication that the case will continue to be prosecuted as an opportunity for Imran Khan in the coming days," he added.

It is noteworthy that Khan was sacked as prime minister last April after he lost a vote of no-confidence in parliament following a weeks-long political crisis.

Since his dismissal, the former cricket star and his supporters have organized popular anti-government demonstrations calling for early legislative elections, and they say that the United States conspired to overthrow his government in response to taking positions that Western governments do not approve of, such as his neutral stance on the Ukrainian war and siding with Islamic issues.

Khan said in his speech last Saturday that he "will not leave" the Islamabad police chief and the judge who extended the detention of his assistant, and that he will take legal action against them, a statement that the police relied on in accusing Khan of seeking to intimidate the police and judiciary and prevent them from performing their duty.

After appearing in court today, Khan said that his speech on Saturday did not contain any wrongdoing.

Security measures in the vicinity of the Anti-Terrorism Court (European)

Domestic and regional repercussions

Political analyst Javed Rana believes that the authorities are hesitant about the arrest of Imran Khan, as he says that there are fears within the government of a slide into violence across the country if he is arrested, in light of the state of internal tension as well as the economic hardships the country is going through.

Rana believes that the army is trying to control the anger behind the scenes to avoid a real crisis in Pakistan.

As for writer and political analyst Zigam Khan, he believes that political turmoil may not affect the security situation in Pakistan, where security policies are usually determined by the army and there is great convergence on these policies among all political parties, he said.

On the other hand, Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, told Time magazine that "if Khan is indeed arrested, all bets will be off, and the country may witness an increased risk of political violence in major cities."

Kugelman added that Imran Khan has a large support base that will not sit quietly, as he put it.

The American magazine noted that a nuclear-armed Pakistan is reeling from one crisis to another, with potentially dangerous repercussions on regional and global security;

Pakistan is an "invaluable" security partner for the United States with respect to neighboring Afghanistan.

The magazine adds that the instability sweeping Pakistan - including rumors of divisions between pro- and anti-Khan parties within the military - is undermining this important institution.

On the economic level, there are fears of the repercussions of this crisis;

Political analyst Zigam Khan tells Al Jazeera Net that it will affect the economic recovery that Pakistan is looking to achieve.

The International Monetary Fund is scheduled to meet on August 29 to negotiate another rescue plan for Pakistan.

hard test for party

Meanwhile, PTI is preparing for a by-election next month to compete for 4 seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the party's stronghold.

This is a difficult test for Imran Khan and his party to renew their popular base, as they face senior political leaders in their strongholds in the province and in 4 constituencies, and the party has never won except in one constituency, which are traditional strongholds of the ANP.

The constant pressure on the PTI and its leader raises questions about this electoral battle and the party's fortunes in it.

Javed Rana says the government is currently focusing on politically weakening Imran Khan and PTI through the cases against him, as well as their attempts to make him politically ineligible through the judiciary and the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Differences within the ruling coalition

The statements of the Pakistani Democratic Movement - which constitutes the current government coalition - show that there is a difference of opinion among the leaders of the parties about the arrest of Imran Khan;

While the government, through the statements of some ministers, such as Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, is seeking to arrest Khan, there are different voices within the ruling coalition.

A few days ago, in the wake of the government's attempts to arrest Khan in the terrorism case, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party and former President Asif Ali Zardari opposed the arrest of the former prime minister, believing that it would cause political damage to the ruling coalition.

As for the leader of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, he did not express a clear view of Khan's arrest, according to the "Geo News" channel of Pakistan.

Former Pakistani Senator Farhatullah Babar of the Pakistan People's Party tweeted that completely excluding a political leader from the media is not the best policy, because "it gives more value to someone who does not deserve", as he put it.

For its part, the Dawn newspaper on Monday quoted the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sharif and Federal Minister Mian Javed Latif as calling for priority to be taken on corruption and foreign funding cases against Imran Khan instead of his arrest on charges of threatening the government, judiciary and police.