ISLAMABAD – Former prime minister Imran Khan’s visit was just a seventh medical checkup in the hospital. The news emerged from the Supreme Court (SC) sent the country’s stock market plunging by around 3,000 points in a day but sent YouTubers views soaring, as speculation of a deal to provide a complete relief to former prime minister Imran Khan.
This one-day episode has undoubtedly cooled the political temperature, sending a message for both sides – the ruling PML-N, uneasy with the idea of new administrative units, and the opposition [PTI], which is planning a long march towards Islamabad, to remain calm.
This impression emerged from the background discussions with political analysts and senior parliamentarians from both sides of the aisle. The party may receive only minor and modest relief in the future with no major breakthrough expected.
Though the former prime minister has currently been facing a long list of cases [Over hundred], yet the Gift Case [known as the ToshaKhana-II] and Al-Qadir Trust case are the main hurdles behind his complete relief.
Khan has still not been cleared from legal cases of corruption and other charges including Tosha Khana case, land bribery case, State secrets case, Unlawful marriage case, abetting violence etc.
Political pundits viewed that it would only be a wishful thinking to relate the Chief Minister’s recent interviews with different media outlets and medical relief of Imran Khan. The deal has never been seen in this way in the past political history, but the social media heroes grabbed the opportunity to frame it as a major breakthrough.
In the last two days, a heavy contingent of police has been deployed on roads leading to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital, where the former prime minister was briefly “shifted” for a medical check-up. The roads and surrounding areas in this vicinity are now almost clear for traffic, which clearly give the impression that the former prime minister would not be shifted to the hospital in the near future.
Sharing his views with this newspaper, Minister for Parliamentary affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhary clearly mentioned that there was no deal behind this episode. “Imran Khan had earlier been brought for medical checkup six times. It was just his seventh medical checkup,” he said, adding that it would not be administratively appropriate to shift him in the hospital.
“Security clearance is the main issue,” he said, and referring to a statement by Imran Khan’s sister expressing satisfaction over his health, mentioned that now there was no point to shift him in the hospital. “Being a doctor, I don’t think a healthy person should stay in the hospital,” he commented.
Some of the political experts also viewed that the main opposition party would only keep threatening its 27th long march. The protest will not be converted into a sit-in. The protest of PTI during the legislation on ‘ National Command Authority (Amendment) Bill 2026’ and ‘the Defence Forces Act 2026’ was also a poor show, as they calmly left the house giving opportunity to the treasury benches to smoothly pass the important bills.
