ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) – Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was barred from holding public office today after the top election tribunal found him guilty of unlawfully selling gifts from foreign dignitaries and heads of state, a lawyer and a minister said.
The ruling adds to the political uncertainty plaguing Pakistan since earlier this year when Khan was ousted from power, as supporters took to the streets in different cities in protest.
The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his 2018-2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million rupees ($635,000).
The gifts included watches given by a royal family, according to government officials, who have alleged previously that Khan’s aides sold them in Dubai.
Khan has denied the charges.
Khan has since held protest gatherings across the country calling for snap elections, but the government has said they will be held as scheduled in October or November next year.
The political instability has also fuelled economic uncertainty, with international ratings agencies questioning if the current government can maintain difficult economic policies in the face of political pressure and looming polls.
The tribunal was to give a detailed ruling later in the day saying how long the former premier would be barred from public office for.
Under Pakistani law, a legislator found guilty of corruption or misuse of public office can be barred for up to five years.
Faisal Chaudhry, a lawyer in Khan’s team, told Reuters the Election Commission tribunal had no jurisdiction in the matter and that a challenge would be filed.
“It’s an illegal and unconstitutional order,” he said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the ruling, writing on Twitter that the prime minister’s post was made into a source of personal income through “corrupt practices”.
“The idol of ‘honesty and trustworthiness’ was shattered,” Sharif said.
Khan supporters protested in different cities, blocking roads and streets, but there were no reports of violence, officials said.
In the northwestern city of Peshawar, where Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party runs the provincial government, groups of supporters, dozens each in size, blocked a number of key roads where traffic piled up. The highway connecting Peshawar and the capital Islamabad was also blocked.
“I am going to our village for the weekend with my family and was waiting in the car for more than two hours as the roads are blocked by the PTI workers,” said Hameed Khan.
“We didn’t disqualify their leader, then why do they punish us?”
Khan opponent Maryam Nawaz, from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), told reporters in London in recorded comments telecast by local Geo News TV: “It is proved now that he is a certified thief.”
