The PTI chairman Imran Khan’s arrest is “on the cards” after the May 9 riots, which will be a big disadvantage for the former ruling party in the upcoming elections, former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said on Tuesday.

“If the PTI chairman is arrested for the May 9 riots, it will create problems for him for a longer period,” he said on Aaj News show Faisla Aap Ka. “His party will not be able to participate in the elections with efficiency.”

Khokhar called for bringing to justice all the perpetrators of the May 9 riots, however, he said: “It should not be used for political victimisation. We have seen the situation of PTI’s Ali Muhammad Khan and journalist Imran Riaz Khan”.

While responding to a question regarding amendments in the NAB law, he alleged that the national graft buster has been used for political engineering and victimisation.

“NAB has never been successful in convicting a single politician. It is because the watchdog is just a tool for political victimisation,” he added.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Defence Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan claimed that the PTI chairman had provoked the people against the former army chief and the government for over a year.

The PTI chief wanted to create a mob which was planned to unleash if he was arrested, he alleged, adding: “That mob vandalised public and private properties after proper planning. They had replicated the same things in Peshawar before.”

Khan called it a “failure of the state” that the PTI chairman has not been arrested for inciting people against the institutions and his alleged involvement in the May 9 violent protests.

He said that the amendments in the NAB laws were not person specific.

The NAB (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 allows the antigraft watchdog to detain the accused for 30 days.

Acting President Sadiq Sanjrani signed the Ordinance on Tuesday after the federal cabinet’s approval. According to the ordinance, the NAB chairman can issue arrest warrants for the accused for non-cooperation during investigations.