One reason for this, of course, is the leadership of Sharif's party is in jail.

NPR: Ex-Premier's Return to Pakistan Ends Quickly

In June, they sentenced four members of the ruling party to long jail terms for corruption.

ECONOMIST: Egypt

In Saudi Arabia itself, last week, seven men were thrown in jail for establishing a political party.

ECONOMIST: Saudi Arabia urges Bahrain to keep protesters at bay

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladeshi tribunal sentenced a leader of the country's main Islamic party to life in jail Tuesday for his role during the independence war against Pakistan in 1971.

NPR: Bangladesh Jails Islamic Party Leader To Life

That night, Mr Caroll and four other members of his party were arrested and taken to the jail in the provincial capital, Hinche.

ECONOMIST: Haiti

Commanders say insurgents threatened bureaucrats into signing phony deeds for homes and land confiscated from former Baath party officials who are now dead, in jail or have fled the country.

NPR: Iraq Insurgents Borrow from Mafia Playbook

Going to jail for clocking a reporter at a 1995 Vanity Fair Oscar party?

FORBES: Getting Over Our Over-Levered Selves

Adding to the spectacle, Arias sold drawings from jail throughout the trial on a website operated by a third party, Arias' mother said.

NPR: Jodi Arias Convicted Of First-Degree Murder

Now, fraud charges carrying four-year jail sentences have been clapped on seven senior figures in the Virtue Party, Welfare's successor, including Recai Kutan, the party's leader.

ECONOMIST: Turkey

Three top leaders of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, the main separatist grouping, are in jail.

ECONOMIST: On the eve of voting, a law minister is shot dead

When the party raised questions in parliament about the missing money, its leaders were thrown in jail.

ECONOMIST: Mauritania

The low point came in 1993 when its chairman, Gabriele Cagliari, died in jail during a scandal over bribes paid to Italian political parties to counter the power of the Soviet-financed Communist party.

FORBES: Magazine Article