Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Sunday that his party would stage countrywide protests if the government defied the Supreme Court's orders to hold Punjab elections on May 14, Aaj News reported.

In an interview with ARY News, Imran said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had "crashed" in Punjab and wanted to avoid elections by all means.

"However, we will not let them run away from polls. And if they flout the Supreme Court's order [on election], we will take to the streets," Imran said, adding that he will not let PML-N postpone Punjab elections beyond May 14 deadline.

To a question about talks with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Imran insisted that the government wanted to engage PTI only to avoid elections on May 14, adding that the talks [on elections across the country on the same date] could only go ahead if the government dissolved assemblies in May.

The PTI chief said he had mandated PTI's vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi to hold negotiations with the government, but no one from the government had contacted him so far.

The former premier said the PDM was making the judiciary controversial to undermine its verdicts regarding the polls. "They are even ready to abrogate Constitution to save themselves from a humiliating defeat in the elections."