Khan's political career 'far from over', says close aide

Imran Khan might currently be lodged in a small jail cell in the high-security Attock prison facing nearly 200 pending criminal cases, but colleagues loyal to him insist that the charismatic former prime minister's political career is "far from over".

- MAROOSHA MUZAFFAR

In fact, Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari, a close aide and adviser to Khan, says the disruption within Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will bring its members closer.

“We’re making sure that our party stays intact. That Imran Khan’s leadership, his popularity stays intact,” Bukhari tells The Independent. “Actually, I think people think it’s a time of great flux, but they don’t understand that things like these, moments like these, actually gel the party closer together.”

But that confidence belies the worries not just about Khan’s legal and political journey ahead, but also about his alleged condition during incarceration, as the country dissolves its parliament, setting the stage for a national election amid political and economic crises.

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s election commission disqualified Khan from holding any public office for a duration of five years. This came shortly after his arrest over the weekend on corruption allegations. The former PM was arrested for allegedly engaging in “corrupt practices” – a turn of events that didn’t come as a surprise to many, not even to members of his party. 

Khan had admitted, in an exclusive interview with The Independent in June, that it was “only a matter of time until they jail me again”. Saturday’s arrest was the second time this year he had been detained by the police.