33: Pakistan's Military Calculus: Jailing Imran Khan to Disintegrate His Party Hussein Khan (Ambassador Husain Haqqani) Ambassador Husain Haqqani explains the Pakistani military's rationale for keeping Imran Khan imprisoned despite his status as a former Pr
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 27 October 2025
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Hussein Khan (Ambassador Husain Haqqani)
Ambassador Husain Haqqani explains the Pakistani military's rationale for keeping Imran Khan imprisoned despite his status as a former Prime Minister. Khan faces various lawfare charges brought by the government, but the underlying strategy is political rather than judicial. The military's calculus is that Khan's party lacks alternate leadership or a succession plan, unlike Pakistan's traditional dynastic parties. Since Khan serves as the sole rallying point and the party stands primarily for good governance under his leadership, the military believes that prolonged imprisonment will cause the party to fade or that Khan will become too old to lead effectively when released.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is John Batchelor, a conversation with Ambassador Hossein O'Connor, former ambassador from Pakistan of the United States, |
| 0:07.7 | and Al-Tatson Institute, about the fate of Imran Khan, prime minister, but jailed for various lawfare charges, a watch he kept, that sort of thing. |
| 0:18.5 | Why is it that the military that runs Pakistan, a man named |
| 0:23.3 | Munir is the field marshal in charge? Why do they keep him in jail? Hussain explains that |
| 0:30.7 | Imran Khan is a one-man rallying point for a party that has no other leadership. How long do they intend to keep him in jail? |
| 0:39.7 | A long time. |
| 0:41.7 | A saint explains an unusual form of democracy. |
| 0:45.9 | Jail the opposition until much more of this tonight. |
| 0:51.4 | Good evening. |
| 0:52.6 | I think that the calculus of the generals is that the party is not going to be there without |
| 0:57.2 | Khan, unlike the other two parties which opposed the military at different times and were |
| 1:02.2 | able to transfer leadership to their, within their families. |
| 1:05.8 | So Shabash Sharif's brother was the leader. |
| 1:08.8 | Shabazz took over. |
| 1:10.2 | Benadir Bhutto was the leader. |
| 1:11.6 | Her husband took over and now the son is in position. |
| 1:14.4 | Imran Khan does not have such a succession in mind and his followers actually are against any |
| 1:20.1 | dynastic succession. The party also doesn't stand for anything except good governance under |
| 1:25.6 | Khan and they believe that he is an honest man, |
| 1:29.1 | that he is a decent man compared to the others. So therefore, the military's calculation is |
| 1:35.1 | that they keep him in prison, the party phrase, he's the rallying point of the party. He gets |
| 1:43.8 | old and unable to provide leadership by the time they release him. |
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