ISLAMABAD: Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a former federal minister and close aide to ex-premier Imran Khan, was arrested early on Wednesday morning in Lahore, his brother and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said.
Hussain’s arrest came after he held a press conference outside Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore where PTI supporters had gathered in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday morning amid widespread speculation that the ex-PM might be arrested.
At 616am on Wednesday morning, the PTI’s official Twitter account published videos of “police cars” it said were taking away Hussain.
“These police cars have arrested Fawad and are taking him away,” the PTI said.
Hussain’s brother also took to Twitter to confirm the “arrest.”
"My elder brother former Federal Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Sahib @fawadchaudhry has been illegally picked up from his house in Lahore by unknown persons in vehicles without number plates,” Faisal Hussain, a lawyer, said. “The abductors have [neither] shown warrants, nor have revealed their identities.”
Khan has refused to accept the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and campaigned for snap polls since being ousted from power in a parliamentary vote last April, holding protest marches and rallies across the country.
In recent months, his relationship with Pakistan’s all-powerful military, which is widely believed to have propelled his rise to the PM’s office, has sharply deteriorated as he blames it, and its then army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, of being part of a foreign conspiracy by the United States to remove his government. Washington and the army deny the charge.
The latest arrest will most certainly raise political tensions and heighten uncertainty in Pakistan even as it struggles to stave off financial default. The political fight comes as the South Asian nation faces high inflation, dwindling foreign reserves and widening deficits. The country is in a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program.
“There are reports that the puppet government will try to arrest Chairman Imran Khan tonight,” the PTI said on Twitter early on Wednesday morning. “Tehreek-e-Insaaf workers are reaching Zaman Park to protect their leader.”
As supporters gathered outside Zaman Park, Hussain held a strongly-worded press conference, calling on police to arrest Khan if they had the “courage and audacity.”
Addressing authorities that might try to arrest Khan, the aide added: “The PTI’s plan of action [if Khan is arrested] is that there will be protests across Pakistan, we will lock down all cities of Pakistan, Pakistan’s public is standing behind the biggest leader in Pakistan, and god willing, they will get the kind of reaction, the plan of action that they can’t even imagine.”
At 525am, Hussain posted a video on Twitter, showing supporters gathered outside Zaman Park. Media widely reported that he left soon after for his house in Lahore and was arrested from outside the residence.
Pakistani media widely reported that a case had been registered against Hussain at the Kohsar police station in Islamabad on Tuesday night on the complaint of the secretary of the Election Commission for using threatening language against the ECP and its members.
Khan and his party have in recent months been at loggerheads with the ECP and its current leadership, which they blame for being biased in favor of the Sharif government. The ECP denies this. The ECP ruled against Khan in a case late last year related to his disclosure of wealth earned from the sale of state gifts.
Hussain’s arrest comes months after another close Khan aide, Dr. Shahbaz Gill, was arrested by police and accused of inciting mutiny against the military. Gill is out on bail. Another PTI leader, Senator Azam Swati, was also arrested and released on bail in multiple cases, including for posting tweets considered to be anti-military.
Analysts say Khan, who was brought to power in a 2018 election with what is widely believed to be the military’s support, had fallen out with the powerful generals in his final months in office. In a recent interview, Khan said his party had “no relationship” with the new army leadership under General Asim Munir, who was appointed the new chief of army staff late last year.
