The demonstrations of Khan's supporters and his "Insaf" party in the events of May 9, 2022 marked a new phase of restrictions on him (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD -

After winning the last elections held in Pakistan in 2018, the Pakistan Insaf Party, founded by former cricket star and Prime Minister until last year Imran Khan, today stands in an unenviable position.

Despite its victory in the 2018 elections against the major Pakistani parties that ruled the country in different periods, namely the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sharif Party and the Pakistan People’s Party, the Pakistani Insaf Party is today completely out of the electoral competition, and it faces major obstacles.

The Insaf Party's difficulties did not begin with the announcement of the election date, but rather with the outbreak of the political crisis that Pakistan witnessed in 2022, which ended with the party's ouster as prime minister.

Imran Khan was convicted in the gift warehouse case for the first time in August 2023, and was charged in dozens of cases after that (Reuters)

Political crises

After the overthrow of party leader Imran Khan from the presidency of the government in April 2022, the party began organizing demonstrations to protest his ouster from power. Party leaders also accused the military establishment of being behind this in cooperation with opposition parties, not to mention promoting the idea of ​​a foreign conspiracy that indicates “involvement.” " United State.

That period witnessed judicial prosecutions of the party’s leader, Imran Khan, and some of its senior leaders. Imran Khan was accused in several cases, the most important of which was the “Toshakhana” case, or what is known as the “gift warehouse,” where he was accused of selling and concealing the details of gifts given to him while he was in power, which violates the constitution. Pakistani.

Khan was also successively accused of dozens of cases, such as incitement to terrorism, revealing state secrets, and other corruption cases, most notably the “Al-Qadir Trust” case, in which he is accused of money laundering.

Imran Khan was convicted in the “Toshakhana” case for the first time in August 2023, where he was sentenced to 3 years in prison and disqualified from any government position for 5 years, and accordingly he was arrested for the second time.

Khan's first arrest came in May of the same year under the "Al-Qadir Trust" case, and a state of violence prevailed in the country at that time after Khan's supporters and his party went out in demonstrations, in what was known as the events of May 9, which marked a new phase of restrictions on the party. .

The events included demonstrators attacking government headquarters and army headquarters - the actual course of action in the country - which greatly affected the party's cohesion, as a large number of front-line leaders defected, led by former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, former Finance Minister Asad Omar, and former Defense Minister Pervez Khattak.

A few days ago, Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in prison in the “Toshakhana” case, in addition to a ruling disqualifying him from any government or political position for 10 years.

One day before that ruling, there was another 10-year prison sentence against Imran Khan and his Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in the “encryption” case related to secret documents that Khan brandished in front of his supporters.

On January 30, the Pakistani Election Commission issued a decision rejecting his nomination papers in the Lahore and Mianwali constituencies. The Election Commission employee in charge of checking Khan’s nomination papers in the Lahore constituency said that Imran “has been convicted,” which would cancel his candidacy papers.

On Saturday, February 3, a Pakistani court also sentenced the former prime minister and his wife, Bushra Khan, to seven years in prison, and imposed a fine, after ruling that their marriage in 2018 violated the law, according to the Pakistani ARY News Agency.

Electoral crises

A decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan not to recognize the internal elections held by the party to appoint an alternative leadership to Imran Khan, who was imprisoned, was a blow to the party’s chances in the general elections. Although this decision was overturned by the Peshawar High Court, the Election Commission appealed against the decision in the Supreme Court, which accepted the appeal submitted by the Election Commission.

This decision makes it impossible for the party to compete in the elections as a political party, because its leader is deprived of the qualifications to hold any political position, and therefore the party’s candidates will be forced to run in the electoral race as independents with different electoral symbols.

The crisis worsened after the Insaf Party's efforts to ally with the Insaf Nazari Party - a splinter faction from the Insaf Party in 2012 - suffered a severe blow after the Insaf Nazari Party canceled its symbol-sharing agreement.

Amid these successive strikes, the leadership of the Insaf Party expressed its fears of facing difficulty in obtaining seats in light of the presence of reserved seats allocated to political parties.

The new president of the Insaf Party, Gohar Ali Khan, told reporters that he feared there would be "haggling" because when his party's candidates win, other political parties will "hunt" them to strengthen their position, according to the Pakistani newspaper "News International".

Imran Khan during a protest demonstration in the capital, Islamabad (Reuters)

Limited and difficult options

In light of this faltering reality for the Insaf Party, questions arise about the party’s options for dealing with this reality. In this context, journalist and political analyst Syed Faisal Hussein says that there are little or no chances for the Insaf Party to boycott the elections.

Faisal Hussein said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the Insaf Party appears confident, and will call on voters to come out in large numbers, and just like the 2018 elections, it will be difficult to manage.

Hussein added that amid this "chaos", the biggest obstacle now is "symbols" and it seems that a major campaign to push voters to vote is the only solution for the Insaf Party, especially in rural areas.

He continues that despite facing many challenges, the party's social media team seems busy developing impactful strategies for Election Day.

Hussain concludes his speech by saying that he expects the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif's wing) to win.

For his part, journalist and political analyst Akhtar Shaheen says that the Insaf Party, its leaders and its candidates are already running in the elections, expressing his belief that they will not boycott them.

Shaheen said - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - that this will bring more losses to the party, as many of its leaders are running as independent candidates. Shaheen added that he does not see any new front or party for the PTI leaders.

Regarding the impact of Imran Khan’s absence from the elections, Shaheen says that this is a great loss for the party, voters and supporters, “as the state of Pakistan constantly pushes its voters to the wall, and punishes their loyalty to Imran Khan.”

Shaheen continues that we expect to see violent protests and clashes during election days, due to the actions of the state through the police and other law enforcement agencies. He adds, "This situation has already put a big question mark on the transparency of the elections."

Source: Al Jazeera