Lahore: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has once again changed his position on the government change conspiracy and said that former Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa conspired with the current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. This resulted in “regime change” in the country.
Earlier, for a long time, Imran Khan, who was ousted by a no-confidence motion in April last year, claimed that the US-backed government was changing because it wanted to keep military bases in Pakistan. And wants to use the country once again to fulfill its interests. Foreign policy objectives in the region and beyond.
However, in an interview with Voice of America, he took a step back and said that the former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) had close ties with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and had “conspired”. ‘, which resulted in “a change of regime”.
According to Imran Khan, the “problem” arose when General Bajwa “supported some of the biggest crooks in this country”.
He claimed that the former army chief wanted his government to turn a blind eye to corruption, the “biggest problem”, and work with corrupt leaders, “giving them immunity from their corruption cases”.
Imran Khan said the new military leadership had realized that the “regime change experiment has failed”.
He said that I am sure that the new military leadership has a feeling that this experiment of regime change has gone wrong.
The PTI chief asserted that elected governments should have authority as well as responsibility and if this is not the case, the country’s system fails.
“The main principle of balance [of power] is that an elected government that has responsibility, mandated by the people through their vote, must also have authority,” Khan added.
He said that responsibility and authority cannot be separated and therefore a system cannot work if “the two things are not in the same person”.
“If the authority rests with the army chief, [but] the responsibility rests with the prime minister, no administrative system works.”
Answering a question regarding his relationship with the army as prime minister, the PTI chief said that all the policies of the army in Pakistan depend on one person.
“Military means one man, the army chief. Therefore, the whole policy of the army in its dealings with the civilian government depends on the personality of one man.
The ousted prime minister said that the positive aspect of his relationship with then Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was that his government had “the organized strength of the Pakistan Army to help us”.
He said the impact of this relationship was seen in Pakistan’s successful response to COVID-19.
According to the ousted prime minister, Pakistan’s economy is in dire straits and the country is facing the worst political and economic crisis in history.
Expressing his views on his demand for general elections, the PTI chief said that “free and fair elections are no longer possible” because the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as an impartial electoral body has failed. Credibility is destroyed.
A local body election was held in Sindh which was rejected by all political parties.
Talking about Pakistan’s bilateral relations, Imran Khan said that good relations with Afghanistan, irrespective of the government of the neighboring country, “is indispensable for Pakistan”.
He said that whatever government there is in Afghanistan, Pakistan should maintain good relations with them, adding that as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he had given his full commitment to remain on good terms with the Ashraf Ghani-led government. tried to. Kabul’s help in dealing with terrorism.
It was disturbing that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spent almost all his time outside Pakistan, but did not visit Afghanistan even once. said in response to a question about in the country.
He added that Pakistan is “not in a position to wage another war against terrorism”. Also, in a televised address to the nation on Sunday, Imran Khan said that General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa was working as a ‘super king’ during the PTI government.
He said that General Bajwa had claimed that America was not happy with him (Imran). The former prime minister said he was under fire during the PTI regime while it was General Bajwa who called the shots, and “our say was limited to decisions that the former army chief was unable to take”.
Referring to an interview of General (retd) Bajwa to a foreign journalist, Imran said that the former army chief’s views on the change of government were surprising to him. Imran Khan further said that the day the PTI government was removed, the entire nation came to know who was responsible for this act.
He demanded an investigation into the conspiracy to change the government. He also said that the conditions given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will further increase inflation. He said that the only solution now is to hold general elections in the country within 90 days as any delay would be a crime and the caretaker setup would lose its constitutional status after 90 days.
Imran Khan also urged the authorities and bureaucracy not to obey unconstitutional orders. The former prime minister said that General Bajwa took credit for all the successes and good decisions but blamed the failures on the PTI government. He further said that it was General Bajwa who saved Shahbaz Sharif from accountability as he had a special relationship with him. He recalled that sometimes the judge hearing the case was absent or Shahbaz fell ill to avoid appearing in court.
The PTI chief said that he was determined not to give any NRO [deal] to corrupt elements but it was done to save the mafias who looted the national wealth. Imran said that the only thing that brought the country out of crises was the rule of law, adding that the entire nation was looking towards the judiciary for its better future.
“We all have to be ready to fight for real freedom. Leaving Pakistan and settling abroad is not a solution,” the former prime minister asserted. He said that the party and the nation should be ready for the ‘Jail Bharu Movement’, the date of which will be announced soon.
