The electoral commission suspended the opposition deputy, but has still not published his detailed verdict, creating confusion. The ex-cricket-star continues to threaten the government with a big walk on Islamabad.
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Uncertainty hangs over the political fate of Imran Khan. The former Pakistani-prime minister, an opposition figure, was considered guilty on Friday October 21, of having illegally sold gifts received by heads of state and foreign dignitaries during his mandate between 2018 and 2022. A decision which was first interpreted as a ban on presenting itself to any election and which made fear of turmoil in the country, already confronted with an economic crisis.
The Commission has not, for the moment, still not published the detail of its verdict, creating an ambiguity as to the duration of the ineligibility of Imran Khan overturned in April, thanks to a motion of censorship at the ‘National Assembly. The Minister of Justice, Azam Nazeer Tarar, said on Friday that the ex-star of the cricket was disqualified for a period of five years, which would prevent him from presenting himself during the elections in 2023. But several specialists have Judged that this decision was applied only for the current mandate of the National Assembly.
“Certified thief”
“The case must be examined before a court of justice which will decide on the penalty,” explains Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency. The High Court of Islamabad refused on Monday October 24 to examine the call of Imran Khan. She considered that she had no reason to immediately suspend the decision of the electoral commission, the latter concerning only her current mandate as deputy for the district of Mianwali, according to local television Geo TV.
Imran Khan had appealed the decision of the electoral commission, not without accusing it of being in collusion with corrupt power. “I will fight them as long as I live,” he said, while saying that he would soon announce the date of the long march on Islamabad, whose government he continues. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who called Imran Khan as “certified thief”, assured that the government would not let him take over the capital.
In Pakistan the head of state is authorized to buy gifts received within the framework of his functions for 50 % of their value and must, in this case, declare them as income. But the former 70 -year -old playboy is accused of not having declared all the goods received under his mandate and of having earned money by reselling some. “The one who spread lies on the supposed corruption of his political opponents was taken hand in the bag,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bilawal Bhutto, Friday.
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