Pakistan: Could ex-PM Imran Khan make a new deal?

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to be shifted to a private hospital after Khan's family and political supporters repeatedly raised concerns about the 73 year old's deteriorating health in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail.

The founder of the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been imprisoned since August 2023 and is currently serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges he says are politically motivated.

The former prime minister was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. Khan and his supporters say Pakistan's influential military is trying to keep him out of politics, an allegation the military denies.

Despite his remaining behind bars, Khan remains politically popular. Despite a crackdown on the PTI following Khan's arrest, the candidates backed by him performed strongly in the February 2024 elections.

"Three years in prison have not removed Khan from Pakistani politics. He remains PTI's biggest political asset, but the party's reliance on him has also exposed weaknesses in its leadership and organization," Raza Rumi, a US-based Pakistani political analyst, told DW.

The transfer of Khan to the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for medical assessment has added a new dimension to the debate over his future and the possibility of political negotiations.

However, Khan's adviser Sayed Zulfi Bukhari rejected speculation that court decision was the result of any political deal with the government.

"There is no deal between Imran Khan and anyone. This is the Supreme Court's decision, which is very much welcomed," Bukhari said.