(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan arrested top leaders of former premier Imran Khan’s political party on charges of attacking the police in a rally a day earlier, worsening the political strife in the country.
The police arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, who is leading Khan’s party while he is in jail, according to the group’s text message and the police spokesman Taqi Jawad. The party said 13 key leaders have been picked up by the authorities.
The former cricket star has been languishing in jail for more than a year facing multiple cases after a fallout in relations with the nation’s powerful military. Khan faces charges from corruption to misuse of power and instigating attacks on the state properties. Khan says cases against him are politically motivated and were framed after he was removed from power in April 2022 in a parliamentary vote of confidence backed by the army - a charge denied by the military.
Khan has been convicted in four different cases since last year, all of which have either been overturned or his jail sentence was suspended by higher courts. The candidates loyal to Khan won the most seats in national election in February but failed to form a government as rivals including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif cobbled up a coalition government.
“The political uncertainty will intensify,” Zafar Hilaly, a Karachi-based political analyst and a former diplomat, said by phone. “The lines have been crossed by both sides.”
Sharif’s government has seen a delay to secure a final approval from the International Monetary Fund’s executive board for its $7 billion loan that raised concerns among fund managers and traders. The government was expecting the lender to approve the program in August.
The arrests were made a day after these leaders led a rally on Sunday outside the capital, Islamabad, demanding Khan’s release from jail. Khan’s party leader Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the Chief Minister of northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, warned the coalition government to release Khan in two weeks or face consequences. The supporters of Khan clashed with police, which tried to disperse the rally, injuring people from both sides, local media has reported.
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