ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday categorically said that the “imported regime” and its handlers are desperately moving on a “minus 1” formula after seeing the nation firmly standing behind his party.
In a tweet, a day after Islamabad High Court (IHC) set a date for indictment in a contempt of court case, Khan said: “the imported government and its handlers are so petrified that nation is standing firmly behind PTI, they are desperately moving on minus 1 formula.”
In the same breath, he said that “tomorrow our Gujranwala jalsa will be last of our present phase of Haqiqi Azadi Movement. I will announce the next critical phase at the jalsa.”
Earlier in the day, PTI secretary general Asad Umar called upon the nation to take to the streets on Saturday evening to express solidarity with their leader Imran Khan.
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Talking to journalists after a meeting chaired by the PTI chief which was also attended by senior party leadership, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry also appealed to the people to come out against the government’s “minus one formula”.
“It seems like the government doesn’t want to hold elections. A protest movement will commence across the country on Saturday…we urge the entire nation to fully participate in it,” he added.
He said that Pakistan will completely turn into a banana republic if the most popular leader like Imran Khan is disqualified.
“There is a ‘dummy’ prime minister and cabinet in the country as shots are being called from somewhere else, and early elections are the only solution to steer the country out of the prevailing crises,” he maintained.
Keeping in view the fragile economy and the political instability, he added, this incumbent regime could not be allowed to delay the elections any further.
“It seems that the incumbent regime doesn’t want to hold elections so a protest movement will commence across the country […] we urge the entire nation to participate in it on Saturday,” he added.
Chaudhry said that senior party leaders held a meeting on Friday and expressed their confidence in the leadership of Imran Khan.
He said that the incumbent regime, which according to him doesn’t have the public mandate, is making attempts to knock out Imran Khan politically.
“FIRs [first information reports] are being registered against the most popular leader of the country at a time when there are floods in the country and the nation is not going to accept it,” he added.
He maintained that the government wants to push Imran Khan out of the political arena, which is reflected in fake FIRs registered against him.
He also lambasted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for postponing the elections to be held on September 25 under the pretext of floods in the country.
“We simply cannot give any more time to this regime as country’s politics has entered the final stages… a government elected by the people will come into power soon,” he added.
To a question about the contempt of court proceedings against the party chairman, he said that the party chief had submitted his reply to the court and satisfying the judges is the job of the lawyers.
He also condemned misbehaviour with journalists in the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC) by the police as they were not allowed to enter the courtroom when the PTI chief was appearing before the court.
He questioned the IHC registrar for banning the entry of the chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa along with ministers of the provincial cabinet when the PTI chief was appearing in the court, while no such security protocol was put in place when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif went there on Friday.
To another question about the conspiracy being hatched to overthrow the PTI-led coalition government in Punjab, he said that the federal government would be sent packing before its conspiracy to bring down Punjab government materialised.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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