Pakistani judges say intelligence agency threatened them over Imran Khan

High court members allege ISI put cameras in their bedrooms and tortured a relative to make them hear an appeal against ex-PM

Claims by senior Pakistani judges that the intelligence agencies put pressure on them in cases involving the former prime minister Imran Khan have reached the country’s supreme court, following the publication of an unprecedented letter that has created a storm in Pakistan.

The letter from the six high court judges alleged the abduction of family members, torture, installation of cameras in their bedrooms and threats from the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI).

Continue reading...

Pakistan election: coalition against Imran Khan says deal reached to form government

Shehbaz Sharif expected to become prime minister again after plans for coalition government announced between PML-N and PPP parties

Imran Khan’s political rivals have announced details of a coalition agreement, naming Shehbaz Sharif as their joint candidate for prime minister amid continuing concerns about the legitimacy of the recent elections.

Khan’s rivals said at a news conference of party leaders late on Tuesday that they had secured the required majority of votes to form a coalition government. The parliament will elect Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as the new prime minister when the inaugural session of the National Assembly is convened later this month, the party leaders said.

Continue reading...

Senior Pakistan official admits election rigging as protests grip country

Confession by Punjab commissioner exacerbates tension over legitimacy of February general election results

A senior official in Pakistan has admitted to election rigging amid protests breaking out across the country over claims that its general election results were unfair.

The confessional statement throws further questions over the legitimacy of the 8 February elections, which were marred by controversies and allegations of rigging in Pakistan.

Continue reading...

Pakistan: coalition agrees to form government and shut out Imran Khan’s party

Rival parties will make Shehbaz Sharif prime minister, despite Khan’s party getting most votes at election

A coalition including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PLM-N) and the Pakistan People’s party (PPP) have agreed to form the next government of Pakistan, ensuring that the party of former prime minister Imran Khan will not take power despite getting the most votes in the election.

At a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday night, it was confirmed that the rival parties had agreed, with two smaller coalition partners, to form a joint government “to take Pakistan out of difficulty” and that PLM-N’s president, Shehbaz Sharif, would be their sole nominee for prime minister.

Continue reading...

Election turmoil leaves Pakistan with a weak and unpopular coalition

Government will be formed by Nawaz Sharif’s party but it may not survive long given the popularity of the jailed Imran Khan’s PTI

It was mid-afternoon on Pakistan’s election day, sources say, when military intelligence began to realise that things on the ground were not going as planned.

Mobile services, including the internet, had been suspended across the country on the pretext of security issues. Those aware of the decision-making said the real reason was to keep voter turnout low, making the results much easier for Pakistan’s powerful military to “manage” and, most importantly, keep supporters of the former prime minister Imran Khan away from the ballot box.

Continue reading...

Protests take place across Pakistan amid election vote-rigging allegations

Police fire teargas on supporters of Imran Khan amid turmoil as several parties claim they would be forming government

Police fired teargas to disperse supporters of Imran Khan as protests broke out across Pakistan amid allegations of widespread vote-rigging targeting the former prime minister’s political party and other nationalist groups in the general election.

The results of the election, which took place on Thursday, gave a surprise first place to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which won the most seats despite facing a stringent crackdown by the country’s powerful military establishment.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan claims victory in Pakistan poll but military might have final say

Jailed leader says he has support to form next government but analysts say results only suit the army

Imran Khan’s political party has declared it intends to form the next government after claiming a shock election victory, despite efforts by the opposition to take power in a backroom coalition deal.

Even as results showed that candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party run by the incarcerated former prime minister Khan, had won the most seats, by Saturday night there was still little clarity on who would be forming the next government in Pakistan, adding to a climate of political turmoil.

Continue reading...

Pakistan army chief calls for unity as election fails to produce clear winner

Country faces uncertainty after strong performance by independent candidates loyal to former PM Imran Khan

Pakistan’s army chief has told feuding politicians to show “maturity and unity” after an election failed to produce a clear winner, leaving the military’s favoured party having to cobble together a coalition in order to rule.

The country faces days of political horse-trading after a strong performance by independent candidates loyal to the jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, scuppered the chances of the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from winning a ruling majority.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan allies claim shock victory in Pakistan election despite crackdown

Candidates backed by Khan’s PTI secure most seats but rival Nawaz Sharif seeks to form coalition

Politicians allied with the former prime minister Imran Khan’s party have defied a military-led crackdown and alleged widespread rigging to win the most seats in Pakistan’s election, but opponent Nawaz Sharif claimed victory and said he would form a coalition government.

Candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party run by Khan who is now serving sentences of more than a decade in jail, claimed a stunning victory after Thursday’s polls, defying all expectations that Sharif, a three-time former prime minister, and his Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) would win an easy majority.

Continue reading...

Pakistan election: phone service suspended as country goes to polls

Caretaker government says it took decision for security reasons after two bomb blasts targeted election offices

Phone services have been suspended in Pakistan as the country voted in a general election marred by allegations of vote rigging and militant attacks.

The caretaker government said phone services, including mobile internet, had been suspended on Thursday for security reasons, after two two bomb blasts by Islamic State targeted election offices in the restive region of Balochistan on the eve of the polls.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan and his wife sentenced in ‘un-Islamic’ marriage case

Pakistani former PM says case was created to ‘humiliate’ him and Bushra Bibi, who were sentenced to seven years each

A local court in Pakistan has sentenced Imran Khan, the country’s former prime minister, and his wife to seven years each in a case related to their marriage, which it declared “un-Islamic”.

Khan and Bushra Bibi were both last week separately handed 14-year sentences in a corruption case, known as Toshakhana, for illegally selling state gifts.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan, Pakistan former PM, sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption

Ruling against Khan and wife Bushra Bibi comes just a day after a 10-year sentence was handed down, and just before Pakistan goes to the polls in a general election

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in jail in a corruption case, a day after he was given a 10-year sentence for leaking state secrets.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was also handed a 14-year sentence in the case, known as Toshakhana, which accused them both of illegally selling state gifts. The judge also banned them both from holding political office for 10 years.

Continue reading...

Pakistani military use age-old tactics to keep Imran Khan away from election

Former PM, once military’s golden boy, has been sentenced in two separate cases to 10 and 14 years

The script seems eerily familiar. Imran Khan, once the golden boy of Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, found himself at the receiving end of not one, but two, damning court verdicts this week.

Sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday, and 14 years on Wednesday, the brazen timing of the convictions in two separate cases made one thing abundantly clear: the military will stop at nothing to keep Khan away from Pakistan’s general election, which will be held next week.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan handed 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets

Former Pakistan PM condemned trial as ‘a joke’ amid crackdown on his political party in run-up to election

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for leaking official secrets, amid a crackdown on his political party before the general election due next week.

The sentence is the harshest yet against Khan, who has been held in jail since August after he began to openly criticise the country’s military.

Continue reading...

Pakistan commission rejects Imran Khan’s bid to overturn election ban

Former prime minister is barred from standing in elections after being jailed for unlawfully selling state gifts while in office

Pakistan’s election body has rejected former prime minister Imran Khan’s nomination to contest the 2024 national elections in two constituencies, officials and his party’s media team said on Saturday.

The 71-year-old former cricket star has been embroiled in a tangle of political and legal battles since he was ousted as prime minister in April 2022. He has not been seen in public since he was jailed for three years in August for unlawfully selling state gifts while in office from 2018 to 2022.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan deploys AI clone to campaign from behind bars in Pakistan

PTI party uses ‘voice clone’ of imprisoned opposition leader to give impassioned speech in ‘virtual rally’

Artificial intelligence allowed Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan to campaign from behind bars on Monday, with a voice clone of the opposition leader giving an impassioned speech on his behalf.

Khan has been locked up since August and is being tried for leaking classified documents, allegations he says have been trumped up to stop him contesting general elections due in February.

Continue reading...

Pakistan’s ex-PM Nawaz Sharif returns from exile ‘completely ready’ for election

Return of Sharif, who has conviction for graft, is likely to have been smoothed by deal with country’s powerful military, expert says

Nawaz Sharif, the three-time prime minister of Pakistan, arrived back in the country on Saturday after four years of self-imposed exile, poised to make a political comeback before the general election in January.

Sharif spent the past few days in Dubai and left on a chartered flight packed with journalists, touching down in the capital, Islamabad, at about 1.30pm (0830 GMT), according to local media.

Continue reading...

Ex-Pakistan PM warns of deepening crisis as fears of new election delay grow

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says parliament has lost its credibility as military continues to wield political power

A former Pakistani prime minister has said the country is in a “deepening political and economic crisis” as fears grow elections due to be held by November may be delayed further.

His comments came after a tumultuous period in which the prime minister, Imran Khan, was removed from office and arrested as an opposition coalition took power, the controversial 2018-23 parliament, which witnessed rights violations, a crackdown on political opponents and increasing curbs on dissent, was dissolved and the power and influence of the military grew.

Continue reading...

Pakistan in uproar as protests over soaring energy prices turn violent

Traders close shops, electricity bills are set alight and utility firm staff are attacked as anger rises over living costs and political strife

Protests against rising electricity and petrol prices have rocked Pakistan over the past week, with thousands taking to city streets and setting their electricity bills alight.

The cost of electricity has doubled in the last three months to about 50 rupees (12p) a kilowatt. Petrol prices have shot up from 262 rupees a litre in June to 305 rupees this month.

Continue reading...

Pakistan high court has suspended Imran Khan conviction, says lawyer

Uncertainty over whether ex-PM will be released from jail due to other court orders allowing for his arrest

A Pakistani court has suspended the former prime minister Imran Khan’s recent conviction on corruption charges, his lawyer has said, though it is unclear whether this will lead to his release from jail.

The 70-year-old former cricketer has been at the centre of political turmoil in the crisis-ridden state since his ouster in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, and his relations with Pakistan’s powerful generals have deteriorated over the past year.

Continue reading...