With the military fixated on marginalising Khan, it is expected that the army will buy more time to do so by delaying general elections, which otherwise are to held later this year, a report by Atul Aneja
In the arrest of ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case, the Pakistan army has broken a psychological barrier, opening a pathway for a new dispensation to take root in Islamabad.
The army, which had been seeking Khan’s arrest after the May 9 attacks that challenged the military’s authority would have been relieved to see that the ex-Prime Minister’s arrest on Saturday did not trigger a significant blowback from his supporters in the streets. In fact, only 20-25 people were present at Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore at the time of his arrest.
The former Prime Minister’s docking has also not generated any significant pressure from abroad. The United States, which has no love lost for Khan after he publicly accused Washington for plotting his removal in a no-confidence motion last April, has looked the other way after Khan’s arrest on Saturday.
“Cases against Imran Khan and other politicians on Pakistan are an internal matter,” US State Department’s spokesperson was quoted as saying after the arrest. “We call for the respect of democratic principles and the rule of law in Pakistan, as we do around the world,” he added, in a pointer that Khan’s detention was not on Washington’s political radar.
It is likely that Khan who has been lodged in Attock jail will be granted bail in the Toshakhana case, for which the ex-Prime Minister sentenced by a sessions court to 3 years’ imprisonment.
But the relief is expected to be short-lived. Recent precedents show that Khan is likely to re-arrested for breaking the law in other cases that have been piled up against him. These include the May 9 case, where Khan is being nailed for masterminding the attacks on military installations including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and the corps commanders’ residence in Lahore. Khan can also be docked for the Al Qadir Trust case. Here, the PTI chief and his wife Bushra Bibi have been accused of getting billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from a real estate tycoon based in the UK in return for favours from the PTI government.
Khan’s legal woes do not end here. He is also confronting the cypher case, where he has been accused of publicly airing state secrets conveyed to him through a classified cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States. The cable apparently revealed a conversation between the Pak ambassador to the US and David Lu, a US state department official, who apparently sought the exit of Khan’s government. The ex-Prime Minister’s government was toppled in a no-confidence motion shortly after the cable was received.
Prior to Khan’s arrest, others who have faced the arrest-bail-rearrest cycle include Pervez Elahi, former Chief Minister of Punjab, Shehryar Afridi, who served as Chairperson of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir as well as Yasmin Rashid– a Pakistani politician who served as the provincial minister of Punjab for Primary and Secondary Healthcare.
With the military fixated on marginalising Khan, it is expected that the army will buy more time to do so by delaying general elections, which otherwise are to held later this year.
Unsurprisingly, the government on Saturday ruled that elections would be held only after considering the Pakistan’s 2023 population census. This implies that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will now delimit electoral constituencies afresh—a time consuming exercise.
Consequently, it appears that the military establishment led by Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Asim Munir is in no mood to hold elections at least till March 2024. Pak insiders told India Narrative that it may not be surprising if the elections are postponed by 1-2 years.
To ensure that post-Imran hybrid model, where a powerful military will work together with an elected government as a junior partner, takes firm root, the army will ensure that a suitable caretaker prime minister is appointed, whose tenure could be lengthy as elections could be delayed. Earlier, the military has favoured the appointment of Mohsin Beg, a media personality close to Gen. Munir as the caretaker PM.
The military also needs extra time to see that charges against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are dropped to smoothen his return from exile from London, ahead of elections. Besides, the army also wants to see the back of pro-Imran Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial who retires in September.
The beginning of troubles
The ex-Prime Minister got into trouble over selling some of the expensive gifts that he had received from foreign government in his capacity as Prime Minister. Though top national leaders are allowed to buy foreign gifts from the state coffers, Khan had apparently purchased these gifts for himself at highly discounted value from the state treasury and sold them at market prices, thus personally pocketing a tidy profit.
Khan has been accused of selling an expensive Graff wristwatch worth at least Rs2 billion, to Dubai-based businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor. Khan was gifted the watch by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
According to Pakistani daily New International, Zahoor, the Norwegian-Pakistani millionaire, claims that he can prove that he bought the rare watch and three other Toshakhana gifts from Farhat Shahzadi — also known as Farah Gogi. Gogi, in turn is a close friend of Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi. Zahoor claims that he paid 7.5 million Dirhams in cash and the deal was facilitated by former federal minister Shahzad Akbar.
In an affidavit, Zahoor claims that the gifts included a Diamond MasterGraff Tourbillon Minute Repeater with Makkah Map Dial GM2751, Diamond Cufflinks with 2.12ct H IF and 2.11ct I IF Round Diamonds GR46899, Diamond Gent’s Ring 7.20cts, VVSl Rose Gold Pen Set with Pave Diamonds and Enamel Mecca Map.
Khan has not denied his involvement in the Toshakhana affairs but has pinned the blame of any wrongdoing on his military secretary Brigadier Waseem Cheema.
Recording his statement in the Toshakhana case before the sessions court on Tuesday, Khan said that Brigadier Waseem Cheema was an important and relevant character in this whole episode. “I request the court to call him to record his statement in the case,” he said, pleading innocence in the case.
In his judgement today, ADSJ Humayun Dilawar announced the verdict, stating that the PTI chief has been found guilty of corrupt practices before reading out the sentence. Incidentally no representative of the PTI chairman appeared before him at the hearing, which was adjourned several times.
Khan and the PTI are expected to challenge the verdict in higher court, implying that the ex-Prime Minister’s disqualification based on the Toshakana case may not be final. In a recorded video message, Khan has said that he had anticipated his arrest.
It is important to note that there is a bigger context to the ruling. The military led by Army Chief Asim Munir and the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have gone after Khan after the May 9 attacks on military symbols and installations including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and Jinnah House, the corps commander’s residence. Khan is a prime suspect in conceiving the plot, an accusation that he hotly denies.
In the crackdown that followed, the PTI has splintered and many senior leaders have jumped ship. The establishment has got further emboldened after the Sharif government managed to secure the IMF deal which has saved the government from payment default. Sensing that the scales maybe slowly tilting in their favour the coalition leadership has been meeting in Dubai and at home, amid prospects of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s early return to Pakistan ahead of elections.
Even though he may get some relief from the judgement in a higher court, Khan’s woes are only expected to multiply. The ex-Prime Minister’s appearance in a military court for his role in the May 9 riots cannot be ruled out.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Umar Ata Bandial, who has so far walled Khan’s arrest has been showing signs that he might not be entirely opposed to the ex-PM’s military trial.
Last month, a six-member bench of the apex court, headed by CJP Bandial heard petitions challenging the trial of civilians accused of the May 09 attacks, in the military courts under the Army Act 1952. His observations to the petitions were interesting.
During proceedings, the CJP asked the attorney general Mansoor Awan if the suspects of May 9 will be allowed the right to appeal in civilian court against their convictions, presumably by the military courts. “You will have to satisfy the court that after the trial of suspects in the May 9 incidents, the accused persons will have fair opportunity of right of appeal against their conviction and will be ensured fair trial,” he told the AG as quoted by Pakistani daily News International.
The via media suggested by the CJP Bandial who retires in September, and which the army is likely to endorse, opens the door for Khan being, at least initially, tried in a military court.
Khan can also face the music over the so-called Cypher case.
Khan’s former Principal secretary Azam Khan has revealed details of how the ex-Prime Minister illegally used the secret cable from the United States for his personal political gains.
In his confessional statement recorded last month before a magistrate under CrPC 164, asserted that the “cypher drama” was a premeditated conspiracy hatched by the ex-Prime Minister.
Ahead of his ouster in a no-confidence motion, Khan had alleged on March 27, 2022, during a rally of PTI workers that Washington had orchestrated the movement to remove him from office. To establish his point Khan had brandished the cypher that he had received in March from his ambassador in the US.
Khan later asserted that the cable had originated in the United States, and the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal. The cable followed a meeting between former Pak ambassador to the US Asad Majeed’s and Lu.
By mishandling the cypher issue, Khan could be charged under Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act 1923. If proved in the court of law, he can be imprisoned from two to 14 years, and would not be necessarily immune to a death penalty.
(India Narrative)