LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that they were ready to talk with the coalition government if it dissolves the assemblies in May and instate a neutral caretaker setup.
Talking to the party workers and supporters via video link from his Zaman Park residence during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, the former prime minister revealed that no one from the ruling alliance had approached PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for negotiations regarding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
“The caretaker governments in Punjab and KP had already completed their constitutional terms and hence their status was illegal now. The apex court had set a date of May 14 for the elections in Punjab, but the coalition government was running away from it by using delaying tactics. However, the PTI would not allow them to violate the Constitution or run away from the polls. The PTI and the people of Pakistan were standing behind the Supreme Court of Pakistan for the supremacy of the Constitution,” he said.
According to him, the ruling alliance was proposing elections in October, but they would find another excuse to delay it. The PML-N’s attempts to run away from elections indicate that the party was in disarray. They record audio and video clips to blackmail their opponents and put pressure on the judiciary.
The PTI chief said that unprecedented high inflation had ruined the lives of common citizens; whenever these ‘imported’ rulers start their election campaigns, they would know how much the people of Pakistan hate them. “They would also have to face a strong reaction from the public for their misadventures and flawed policies in upcoming elections,” he maintained.
He underscored that the PML-N was continuously making attempts to pressurise the apex court, but the Constitution was very clear that elections should be held within 90 days after the dissolution of an assembly. “A guarantee was given to Nawaz Sharif in London that the PTI would be crushed before the elections and hence sham cases against the PTI leaders and workers were part of this scheme,” he added.
Khan castigated Nawaz Sharif for plundering billions of rupees from Pakistan and subsequently buying properties in England. “We were being engaged in court cases to give room to the PDM parties. Before and after the regime change operation, I told the ‘handlers’ that they could not control the economy,” he reiterated.
“The PTI was trying to adopt a constitutional path to bring a change in the country. We stand firm on our ideology to end corruption and uphold the rule of law in the country. Hence, how could I deviate from my party’s core principle of justice and supremacy of law and give them an NRO? Everyone knows how much they looted the country, but still efforts were being made to impose them on Pakistan. Whenever the elections would be held, the coalition rulers would flee the country after losing the elections,” he said.
He reiterated: “A small group of people was making schemes to eliminate me from the political scene; earlier, they attempted to kill me in Wazirabad and later in Islamabad Judicial Complex. However, I would fight against the ‘thieves’ till my last breath.”
Meanwhile, the PTI chairman tweeted: “It has been five days since our PTI Instagram head Atta-ur-Rehman was abducted. We demand his immediate release and an end to the abductions and torture of our social media activists. These young people have committed no crime and were being penalised simply for being a part of the PTI’s social media team.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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