Imran Khan not to be a key player in Pak politics: Interior Minister Sanaullah

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that Imran Khan would never be a key player in the national politics of Pakistan again.

Islamabad: Imran Khan would never be a key player in the national politics of Pakistan again, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said, hinting at the disqualification of the embattled former prime minister. Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has been slapped with a slew of cases, ranging from terrorism to murder, since his ouster through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April last year.

"He is a miscreant. He brought indecency into politics," Sanaullah told Geo News, adding that the 70-year-old Opposition leader will never be a key player in Pakistan's political scene again. The federal government has repeatedly hinted that Khan could be disqualified for his alleged role in the attacks on key army and government buildings after his arrest on May 9.

The minister claimed that if the PTI thinks its vote bank will increase following the instances of violence on May 9, the party is living in a fantasy. "The people have seen their real faces. He's a 'scourge' upon the nation whose only agenda is to cause destruction in the country, he said. On May 9, violent protests erupted after the arrest of Khan by paramilitary Rangers in Islamabad.

Workers from Khan's party allegedly vandalised over 20 military installations and government buildings, including the Lahore Corps Commander House, Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army headquarters in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time. Khan was later released on bail.

The violence elicited a strong reaction from the government and military with vows of acting against the culprits, leading to an ongoing crackdown against those involved. Law enforcement agencies have arrested over 10,000 workers of Khan's Pakistan party across Pakistan, 4,000 of them from Punjab province.

Pakistan's National Assembly has adopted a resolution demanding that the perpetrators of the May 9 violence be booked under the stringent Army Act. The crackdown launched after May 9 violent protests have thrown PTI into a deep existential crisis with dozens of key party leaders quitting the party recently. (PTI)