ISLAMABAD: Days after being removed as the prime minister, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Tuesday demanded immediate elections, saying the people are the sole decision- makers as to who they want as their premier.

In a video message ahead of his first public rally after his removal on April 13, he said: “We are demanding immediate elections as that is the only way forward – to let the people decide – through fair and free elections, whom they want as their prime minister”.

He said that he would be holding a jalsa today [Wednesday] in Peshawar after Isha, adding, “My first jalsa after being removed through a foreign-instigated regime change”.

“I want all our people to come, as Pakistan was created as an independent, sovereign state not as a puppet state of foreign powers,” he said.

The PTI chief stressed that only people of Pakistan can defend the country. “Nobody can protect the freedom of a country and that Pakistan can defend itself. I want everyone to protest for the general election in Pakistan,” he maintained.

In video message shared on the PTI’s Twitter account, Imran Khan stated that he will address the people at the rally and speak about a ‘big conspiracy’ which conquered their country.

He went on to say that Pakistan had been subjected to a great conspiracy, referring to the joint opposition’s no-confidence motion that led to his ouster.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022