ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday faced criticism for blaming the US for his ouster.
At a seminar on regime change in Pakistan, organised by Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) where Imran Khan was the chief guest, noted analyst Ayaz Amir alleged that ‘the plot’ was not actually hatched in the US, rather it was “cooked” at a city few yards from the federal capital.
“This Asif Ali Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and Shehbaz Sharif who you blame [for ousting your government] are the willing partners and mere accessories in this regime change conspiracy but there are hardly two to three people who orchestrated the whole plan,” he claimed.
In his speech, the PTI chairman did not respond to the questions raised by Amir and instead reiterated his party’s long-standing demand of an inquiry into the ‘regime change conspiracy’ in the country.
He said the people involved in this political engineering donot want a thorough investigation into the conspiracy, adding for the sake of the country’s future, a probe into it is a must.
He said that the country’s future would be at stake if efforts to destroy state institutions went unchecked, adding the incumbent regime would destroy all the institutions to protect ill-gotten wealth stashed in foreign banks.
The amendments in the NAB law, he added, the imported regime was meant to clear themselves from graft cases, as the anti-graft body would no longer be able to investigate them under the new law.
Speaking about the performance of his party’s government, he said that all sectors were performing “exceptionally” well and the Economic Survey released by the incumbent regime is a testimony to it.
The PTI chief said his party did not shift the burden onto the people despite, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) pressure.
Khan also announced that his party would move the Supreme Court against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC’s) verdict in a case pertaining to the election of Hamza Shehbaz as Punjab chief minister.
He also complained of interference in by-elections to be held in Punjab in July by “unknown powers”, saying his party candidates have informed him of getting calls from unknown numbers which must stop.
Other speakers including lawyers, diplomats, journalists, and others also spoke on the occasion and reiterated their full support to Khan for his ‘immediate election’ demand in the country.
Former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmed Khan said that a presidential system, or single executive system, is the only way forward to put the country on path to development.