Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has requested emergency talks with state officials, as pressure mounts on him in the aftermath of a crackdown on his top aides and followers, which has resulted in thousands being imprisoned and more abandoning his party.
Since Khan was ousted from office last year in a legislative vote that he claims was manipulated by the military’s senior generals, he has been engaged in a conflict with the military but the armed forces disputed this.
The stand-off intensified when earlier this month Khan’s supporters were involved in violent protests following his brief arrest on May 9.
As Pakistan suffers its greatest economic crisis in decades, political turmoil has increased.
Inflation is at an all-time high, economic development is sluggish, and there are fears that the government could default on its foreign loans unless the International Monetary Fund releases delayed payments.
The majority of Khan’s top advisers were detained shortly after his followers stormed and set a number of military installations across the country on fire. Many have been released and have subsequently resigned from Khan’s party. Dozens of additional mid-level executives have also left.
Khan said they were being made to resign under duress in a bid to weaken him and dismantle his party. He distanced his party from the attacks on military installations during the unrest that followed his arrest and reiterated a called for an investigation to determine who was involved.
Khan’s party members have said they were leaving of their own free will. Many of them cited concerns for their family and health.
The former premier, however, struck a defiant tone, warning that his party’s popularity was only rising because of the crackdown and would still win an election whenever it was held. He said he only wanted to talk to take the country out of the current crisis.
A national election is scheduled to be held by November, and polls show Khan remains the country’s most popular leader.
Khan had said earlier this week that he would set up a committee to hold negotiations.
He says previous attempts to speak to the country’s powerful generals had gone unanswered. The civilian government, a coalition of his political rivals, has not indicated that it was willing to talk as the crackdown on his party continued.
The 33 accused are among the thousands detained since Khan’s May 9 arrest sparked violent protests across Pakistan.
Khan was arrested on graft charges, which he denies, and was subsequently released on bail.
