(Image source from: Moneycontrol.com)

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party will be banned due to anti-national activities, the Pakistani government announced on Monday. "The government has decided that the central government will initiate proceedings to ban PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf)," Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters in Islamabad. He also announced that the case will be heard by the Supreme Court. Mr. Tarar said there was clear justification for restricting PTI and the government would take action against the party. Khan, 71, founded the PTI in 1996, which came to power in 2018. Mr. Khan was the Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022. He was then dismissed after breaking with the military establishment, which had great influence over civilian politics. Khan was barred from running in the February election due to corruption allegations. Despite the setbacks, candidates loyal to the PTI won more seats than any other party, but the coalition deal removed them from power. A PTI spokesman told AFP the party "will not tolerate" the government's attempt to ban it.

“PTI is stronger than before. We are dealing with this,” said Raob Hasan. In a landmark ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court granted additional parliamentary seats to the PTI after party members were forced to contest the February 8 elections as independent candidates. Mr Khan's illegal marriage conviction, which included seven years in prison, was overturned by an Islamabad court later on Saturday, but he remains in prison on other charges. This month, a UN panel of experts concluded that Mr Khan's arrest "has no legal basis and appears to be aimed at denying him the right to run for political office".