The United States on Monday commented on political tensions between Pakistani opposition politician Imran Khan and the federal government, saying violence, harassment, or intimidation had “no place in politics.”
The South Asian country has been embroiled in political chaos since ex-PM Khan was ousted from power through a no-trust vote in April last year. He has since been holding rallies and protests, calling for snap national polls, which the government insists will be held on time in October.
In recent weeks, Khan’s supporters have clashed with police outside his Zaman Park residence in Lahore as well as outside a judicial complex in Islamabad where the former premier had appeared before a judge.
Responding to recent scenes of violence, Sanaullah said in an interview last week that Khan had pushed the politician situation in Pakistan to a point where “only one of us can exist” and that the federal government would go to “any extent” if Khan continued to threaten its existence.
“Any implication of violence, harassment, or intimidation has no place in politics,” a State Department spokesperson said at a briefing on Monday, when questioned about Sanaullah’s comments, which were widely reported in Pakistan as being tantamount to “death threats.”
“As we do with our partners all around the world, we encourage all sides in Pakistan to respect the rule of law and allow the people of Pakistan to democratically determine their own country’s leadership pursuant to their own constitution and laws,” the spokesman said.
Last week, Sanaullah also sought a parliament ruling to empower authorities to tackle former Khan’s party’s alleged involvement in violence.
The ruling was asked for in a joint session of parliament convened over the instability caused by the crisis over Khan.
Sanaullah told the house nearly 68 security personnel were injured in clashes with Khan supporters and a number of Khan aides arrested would be tried on terrorism charges.
The clashes erupted earlier this month after Khan’s supporters prevented police and paramilitary forces from arresting him in a case in which he is accused of unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure as premier from 2018-2022. He denies any wrongdoing.
A few day later, Khan supporters clashed with police once more as he appeared before a court in Islamabad.
The minister requested the house give “guidance” to the government about the violence that he said was stoked by Khan’s supporters.
“It is required that the security forces should be given authority and other measures to deal with this issue,” he said, adding that Khan’s agenda is “chaos and anarchy.”
The government has alleged that Khan’s supporters had militants among them and ministers have called for proscribing Khan’s PTI party.
Khan has rejected the allegation, saying that the government wanted his party out of politics.
