Move to ban jailed former PM Imran Khan's party 'concerning': US State Department

Washington/Islamabad: The US has voiced "concern" over the Pakistan government's move to ban jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party and emphasised that Washington would continue to “monitor these decisions and further decisions by the courts”.

In its latest attempt to suppress jailed former prime minister Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government on Monday announced that it has decided to ban the PTI and seek Article 6 proceedings against Khan, 71, and ex-president Arif Alvi, 78, among others.

The government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party also said Khan's party illegally received foreign funds, involved in riots as well as "anti-state" activities.

US Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller during the daily briefing on Monday said: “Our understanding is that this is the beginning of what will be a complex political process.” “Certainly banning a political concern is something -- or a political party is something that would be of great concern to us,” Miller told reporters in Washington in response to questions.

Miller said the US supported “the peaceful upholding of constitutional and democratic principles, including respect for human rights and freedom of expression”.

He said the US supported democratic processes such as the rule of law and equal justice under the law, adding that Washington would continue to “monitor these decisions and further decisions by the courts”.

Miller also discussed political violence, given the recent attempt to assassinate Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, and said the US abhors “political violence in any country, including Pakistan, and have spoken out against it and condemned it”.

Miller was responding to a question comparing the recent assassination bid on Trump with a similar attack on incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan in November 2022.

“We support the rule of law in Pakistan and every country in the world, and we want to see respect for democratic principles and people’s fundamental human rights and democratic rights upheld,” he added.

The move to ban Khan's party appeared to be the government's attempt to prevent the PTI from becoming the single largest party in the national assembly as the announcement was made on the heels of relief given to the party by the Supreme Court in the reserved seats case as well as to the party chief in the Iddat case.

The PTI last week got a major boost via the Supreme Court ruling declaring them eligible for reserved seats, depriving the ruling coalition of a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.

The move drew a strong reaction from the PTI which in return has also demanded invoking Article 6 of the Constitution against those who undertook the unconstitutional steps even though there is a Constitution in the country.

Besides the PTI, leaders from other parties including the Pakistan Peoples Party, Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, and Jamaat-i-Islami have criticised the decision.