News
November 29, 2024
PTI supporters protest outside the Trump residence in Florida, on Nov 23 - Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
Imran Counts Donald Trump as Ally in Fight for Freedom
By Tom O'Connor
Islamabad: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan expects US President-elect Donald Trump to back his bid for freedom based on their past relationship and perceived parallels in their respective political and legal struggles, an aide to the jailed ex-premier told Newsweek.
As nationwide protests staged by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party subsided Wednesday after clashes with security forces that left at least seven dead and thousands arrested. Zulfikar Bukhari, Khan's media adviser, accused the Biden administration of being "nothing but weak" on the issue and expressed confidence that the situation would change under Trump.
"We expect it to be very different with the Republican regime, with having President Trump back as president," Zulfikar told Newsweek. "I know we've seen lots of tweets from certain ambassadors of the Trump administration, so we expect much more support."
"When I say support, it's not of just Imran Khan or PTI, but support of 250 million people," he added. "It's support for democracy. It's support for rule of law and the supremacy of the judiciary. That's all we're asking.
And given Trump's own battle with the US legal system under the Biden administration, Zulfikar asserted that "no one knows better than President Trump" the impact of "cooked-up, frivolous cases" and "what it means when the public is behind you, because, like Imran Khan, he's experienced both those things the same way."
Newsweek reached out to representatives of the Pakistani government, the Trump transition team and X for comment.
Khan, a former cricket superstar who founded the PTI in 1996 as a populist challenge to the establishment Pakistani politics, defeated the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) Shahbaz Sharif and the People's Pakistan Party's (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to secure the premiership for the first time in the 2018 general elections…
Khan initially faced a challenging position vis-a-vis Trump, who assumed office in 2017 after overcoming Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. The Republican leader had accused Islamabad of harboring militant groups while receiving billions of dollars in foreign aid, sparking a fiery defense from Khan.
However, their dynamic shifted in 2019 when Khan traveled to Washington to meet with Trump. Khan sought to channel his fellow political outsider status to forge a new bond with Trump, who referred then to the Pakistani leader as "very popular" and a "great athlete—one of the greatest" and held two more meetings with him in late 2019 and early 2020.
After Trump lost his November 2020 reelection bid to Joe Biden , Khan's tenure was cut short in April 2022 when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote, ultimately bringing Sharif to power...
In response to the latest turmoil surrounding the protests demanding Khan's release in Pakistan, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that "in Pakistan and around the world, we support freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association."
"We call on protesters to demonstrate peacefully and refrain from violence, and at the same time, we call on Pakistani authorities to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to ensure respect for Pakistan's laws and constitution as they work to maintain law and order," Miller said.
But Zulfikar felt that the Biden administration had fallen far short of its potential to take action and had instead "made 101 excuses not to address the issues of 250 million people" over the past four years.
Now, with Khan's fate still uncertain as he wades through various trials, Zulfikar hoped Trump would tap into his past positive views of the fellow celebrity leader to make a U-turn on U.S. policy.
"I think, without a doubt, both are extremely popular leaders," Zulfikar said. "Both are brave in what they want to say and do, regardless of whether you agree with them or not, and both had an exceptionally close working relationship."
"They're friends," he added. "So naturally, it's only human to expect a friend to show support in these difficult times."
… However, Zulfikar said he has been in touch with members of the incoming administration to raise the issue and some of Trump's former officials have taken explicit positions on recent events in Pakistan.
"Release Imran Khan!" wrote Richard Grenell, who served as Trump's director of national intelligence and is reportedly being considered to lead Russia-Ukraine peace talks in the next administration, in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. He shared a Bloomberg report on the PTI protests.
Zalmay Khalilzad, who served as US envoy on Afghanistan peace talks under Trump and under Biden for a time as well, referred to reported "shoot-at-sight" orders given to Pakistani security forces against demonstrators as a "catastrophic mistake" in another X post that day… - Newsweek
Courtesy Newsweek
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