The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called the government’s move “an enormous blow to democratic norms” and one that “reeks of political desperation”.

“If pushed through, it will achieve nothing more than deeper polarisation and the strong likelihood of political chaos and violence,” Chairman Asad Iqbal Butt said in a statement.

A United Nations panel of experts found this month that Imran Khan’s detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office”.