Imran Khan was removed from the post in April last year after a no-confidence motion.
Islamabad:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said that he dissolved the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) after former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa advised him to do so. The news.com reported,
During a meeting with General Bajwa, where President Arif Alvi was also present, the former army chief suggested that if the PTI chief sought elections, he should first dissolve his governments in the two provinces Khan had recently said in an interview with a private news channel on Sunday, TheNews.com reported.
The ousted prime minister, who was removed from office after a no-confidence motion in April last year, said the Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief told him that Bajwa wanted to bring Shehbaz Sharif to power.
“General Bajwa and [premier intelligence] The agency knew that the present rulers had stolen money from the national exchequer and taken it to foreign countries. Despite knowing this Gen Bajwa was ready to give him ‘NRO’ as he planned to expand [for himself],” Khan said.
During the interview, Imran Khan said that if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolves the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, elections could be held in July.
The ousted prime minister said, “If the prime minister dissolves the assembly, elections can be held in July.”
He also stressed that the caretaker governments in both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces, where Khan’s party was in power before deciding to dissolve their two assemblies on January 14 and 18 respectively, will serve their prescribed terms. are illegal after expiration, TheNews.com reported.
They demanded that the caretaker government be abolished and a new “neutral” interim setup be installed.
He said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has given May 14 as the date for the Punjab elections and his party will not allow the government to go beyond that.
“If they think [incumbent government] We will put pressure on the Supreme Court, we will not let this happen. They will defame the apex court to run away from the elections.
In response to PTI’s call for elections in the two provinces, the government has repeatedly insisted on simultaneous elections to the national and provincial assemblies in October, reports TheNews.com.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court had set May 14 as the new date for elections to the Punjab Legislative Assembly, setting aside the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to extend the election date from April 10 to October 8.
While security has been cited as a major concern for the government’s refusal to hold elections, lack of funds to complete the work has been reported as the main reason for their insistence on delay.
The PTI chief shared the suggestion, refusing to back down from his demand for mid-term polls. “There may be no money even in October. The situation may worsen. We cannot go beyond May 14.”
The former Prime Minister further said that inflation has troubled the public and the government is running away from its reaction by postponing the elections.
He slammed the Shehbaz-led administration, saying, “They are scared of elections.”
Khan stressed that the ECP is working closely with the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of 13 political parties.
He criticized the electoral body and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president, saying, “Maryam Nawaz is getting protocol. The Election Commission is with her.”
Commenting on talks with the ruling coalition in Islamabad, Khan said he had given the mandate for talks to his party’s vice-president Shah Mehmood Qureshi and not former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, TheNews.com reported.
“There has been no discussion so far on talks with Shah Mahmood Qureshi,” he said amid reports of some prominent political parties approaching PTI.
Earlier this week, CJP Bandyal said that the top court can make some room and change the date of elections if all political parties reach a consensus to hold talks. The court had earlier also urged political parties to sit together to resolve issues.
Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari expressed his support for the resolution, calling on his allies and all other political parties to come together and try to end the ongoing crisis. The news.com reported.
Senior PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira also confirmed that the ruling coalition has contacted PTI. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir Siraj Ul Haq is also actively trying to build a bridge between the PTI and the coalition parties in the government.
However, Khan claimed that the government would use the talks to further delay the elections.