LAHORE: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Friday clarified that he is not in touch with the establishment “right now”.
Speaking to senior journalists at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Khan said: “Establishment is the reality and only it can play its part for the rule of law.”
“I was in touch with [former Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed] Bajwa, however, he always asked me to think in a certain direction,” he said, claiming that the former army chief always told him. Advised to focus on the economy and their accountability instead of their opposition parties.
Imran Khan, who was ousted from power by a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly in April, said the top brass in the armed forces was “everything”, claiming that General Bajwa had Called opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif. He was in jail to inquire about his welfare due to a money laundering case.
He asked that “if Shahbaz Sharif wants to interrogate General Bajwa while in custody, then what is the fault of the other prisoners?”
In response to a question regarding the ongoing political crisis in Punjab and the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government’s decision to hold general elections as per schedule, the PTI chief said that the coalition government wants to delay the general elections.
He claimed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari are avoiding contesting in the general elections because they are afraid of me. are
Last week, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) expressed its inability to hold the general elections as scheduled if the final digital data of the seventh census is not provided to the body by March 31 next year. The poll organizing authority had earlier said that the country’s next elections are expected to be held in October 2023.
However, the former prime minister added that further delay in the elections is “impossible” considering the current economic situation.
“If this state of economy continues, the country will be in default by February or March,” Khan said, criticizing the current government for “destroying the emerging economy” and claiming that the PTI The government had left behind.
