Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Wednesday that his party currently has no contact with the new military leadership.
In an interview, the deposed prime minister denied any links with Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir and claimed that general elections will be held in April 2023.
Accusing former Army Chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa of “helping the government to rule the country”, the PTI chief predicted that the government would now be “forced to hold general elections this April”. “.
He said that when he came to power, he closed his corruption cases worth Rs 1,100 billion.
Criticizing the current government for the economic crisis in the country, the former prime minister said that Pakistan’s economic conditions have never been like this, stressing that fair and transparent elections are the only solution to these problems.
The PTI chief claimed that the current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has come to power through horse trading.
The PTI chief added that the coalition rulers kept themselves above the law and dropped corruption cases filed against them years ago. “Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and Maryam Nawaz – all their cases have been waived.”
He said that in an effort to move towards free and fair elections, his party had “sacrificed” two assemblies – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. “Now this government will be forced to hold elections in April.”
‘Sri Lanka-like situation’
Explaining the reason for the ongoing economic crisis, the former prime minister said that no investor or businessman trusts the current government and neither do foreign investors.
“Pakistan is in a quagmire. We need free and fair elections to save the country from a situation like Sri Lanka,” the PTI chairman said.
Khan said he fears another economic crisis is on the way as foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to $4 billion and goods worth the same amount are stuck at ports due to the dollar shortage.
The PTI chief said that commodity prices are rising, unemployment is increasing and industries are closing down.
Pakistan’s economy has been battered by an emerging political crisis, with the rupee falling and inflation at a decade-high, while devastating floods and a major energy shortage have piled on the pressure.
The South Asian nation’s huge national debt – currently $274 billion, or nearly 90 percent of gross domestic product – and the never-ending struggle to service it make Pakistan particularly vulnerable to economic shocks.
Role of Establishment in Punjab
Throwing light on the political situation in Punjab, the former prime minister said that the establishment tried to make Pervez Elahi the chief minister with the support of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN).
The former prime minister said that ‘Ilahi was loyal to us, we had to return the favor and now he will be part of us by merging with PTI’.
He further said that someone should ask him why he overthrew our government through foreign conspiracy.
Khan added that under our government, the economy has been performing very well for 17 years. What did we do wrong that our government was overthrown?”
The former prime minister said that he was now unable to manage the economy after removing the PTI from power, adding that “General Bajwa was told that if this conspiracy succeeds, the economy will not survive.”
The former prime minister added that he could not sustain the economic situation and the market immediately lost confidence from the entrants.
After assuming power, he realized that he had no road map to improve the economic conditions of Pakistan.
