The Shehbaz Sharif-led government in Pakistan decided to ban the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, the country's Information Minister announced on Monday. The PTI is Pakistan's biggest opposition party.
Attaullah Tarar, the Pakistani Minister for Information and Broadcasting, announced in a press conference that a decision had been made to ban the PTI for alleged anti-state activities. The government will refer the case to the Supreme Court, according to Pakistani media.
This decision by the government led by the Pakistan Muslim League (N) comes days after a Supreme Court order that declared Imran Khan’s party eligible for over 20 seats reserved for women and minorities, paving the way for PTI to emerge as the single largest party in the National Assembly.
Announcing the ban decision, the minister said there was "credible evidence" for the action. He said the decision was based on a number of factors, including the "proven charge" that Khan's PTI had received foreign funds from sources that are illegal in Pakistan.
“In view of the foreign funding case, the May 9 riots, the cipher episode, as well as the resolution passed in the US, we believe that there is very credible evidence present to have the PTI banned,” he said.
Imran Khan, 71, has been lodged at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on account of multiple cases against him after he was removed from office by a no-confidence motion in April 2022, after discontent with Pakistan's powerful military.
On Saturday, a sessions court overturned the conviction of Khan and his wife Bushra, in the un-Islamic marriage case related to the violation of the mandatory waiting period for a Muslim woman between two marriages. His sentence in the two Toshakhana (gift) cases had also been suspended by the Islamabad High Court earlier.
In the February 8 general elections, PTI, which contested as independents after it was barred from the polls, won the most seats but the Election Commission had said independents were ineligible for the grant of 70 reserved seats, meant for political parties only. However, the Supreme Court order giving 23 seats to PTI was expected to raise its tally to over 100.
The ruling coalition of Nawaz Sharif's PML-N and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's PPP still has over 200 members in the 336-member lower house of parliament.
