It's too early to rule out Imran Khan from Pakistani politics: Journalist

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

It’s too early to rule out former prime minister Imran Khan from Pakistan’s politics despite his conviction and sentence, says a Pakistani journalist and analyst.

Wajahat Kazmi, a Karachi-based journalist and commentator, in an interview with the Press TV website on Wednesday, said there are several options available to Khan's legal team to overturn the sentence against him.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in an order on Tuesday disqualified the cricketer-turned-politician for five years following his conviction in a corruption case.

“Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi is disqualified for a period of five years,” the court announced, three days after his arrest, adding that his constituency would now be vacant.

A convicted person, under Pakistan's law, cannot hold public office.

Khan has termed charges against him, such as alleged misdeclaration of assets, as politically motivated, accusing his political rivals of trying to sideline him from the upcoming general elections in Pakistan.

Kazmi said Pakistan has a history of politically-motivated cases for the "victimization of political opponents."

"During the tenure of Imran Khan's government, all his political opponents termed the cases against them as politically motivated and the prosecution failed to establish even a single case and failed to reach a conclusion," he told the Press TV website.

"Similarly, Imran Khan has been calling the cases against him politically motivated. As far as my opinion is concerned, I think not all but some of the cases have substance behind them but it’s up to the prosecution if they can properly investigate and present the cases for the court to decide."

Kazmi hastened to add that the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leader's best bet at the moment is to try getting relief from the Islamabad High Court.

"If he (Khan) doesn’t get a relief from Islamabad High Court, then he can move the Supreme Court," he remarked.

On whether protests against Khan's conviction and suspension would expand in the coming weeks, the journalist said after May 9 violence (after Khan's earlier arrest) and the action that followed, most of the PTI leadership is "either in jail or in hiding."

Khan is not the first Pakistani prime minister to be convicted of alleged corruption.

Kazmi said the system in the South Asian country is "deeply in a rot" and none of the politicians and political parties have shown any desire to fix the system.

"Every time they come to power, they leave no effort to victimize their political rivals," he stressed.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk