On Friday, the former prime minister was granted bail by Islamabad’s highest court. It came days after his surprise arrest over corruption charges set off deadly riots in parts of the country where the former cricket star has a large grassroots following, with crowds storming official buildings and military installations and setting cars on fire. At least 10 supporters of the ousted Pakistani prime minister were killed and hundreds others injured in clashes with police.
"We have elections coming up in October and the change of government will take place through a democratic process," Saleem Mandviwalla said, adding that protests "will end soon."
Mandviwalla described the mass protests as a part of the democratic process. He said that the army had not been involved in quelling the unrest and that the sporadic violence had been condemned by all sections of society.
"Whatever is happening in the country is part of the democratic process. Political workers of political parties do express anger over such incidents but it can certainly be termed as mass protests," he insisted.
The senator also said that he would not try to prejudge the outcome of Khan’s case but had no doubt that the rule of law would prevail.