On Friday, Imran Khan, the founding chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a former prime minister, warned that a “dirty election” would lead to more political instability in the nation and stated that his party would prefer to remain in opposition rather than establish a coalition administration.
The comments were made by the imprisoned ex-prime minister during a casual chat with journalists at Adiala prison.
According to Imran, his party would have the support of 90% of the military on February 8. According to the PTI leader, former spy head Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa once told Imran, “the entire army was with you” at a meeting at The President’s Secretariat. Imran accuses Bajwa of “orchestrating” his ouster.
He went on to say that Bajwa’s choices “ruined Pakistan.” Nonetheless, Imran made it clear that the entire institution is not to fault.
“To have a parliament that can be easily controlled” and install “incompetents” into power, he claimed, is the present goal.
“I have been saying since March 19, 2023, that holding free and fair elections is the only solution,” the former prime minister reaffirmed. I formed the government by mistake. “Extending Gen (retd) Bajwa’s tenure was my second mistake,” he stated, continuing, “I should have gone for re-elections.”
Instead of forming a coalition administration, he stated that the party would be better off sitting in opposition. “The country will be even more unstable as a result of a dirty election,” Imran said. Reforms, he continued, were necessary to restore the rule of law and lower the budget deficit.
Imran cast doubt on the PML-N’s effectiveness throughout its sixteen months in office and criticized Nawaz for running in the forthcoming elections. According to the PTI head, Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz’s younger brother, presided over an enormous economic downturn, the exodus of 1.5 million skilled workers, and a dramatic escalation of Pakistan’s trade imbalance.
The head of the PTI stated that the growth rate was 6.7% when he was removed from office and “reduced to zero” during Shehbaz’s term, while inflation rose from 12.4% to 38%.
In addition, he mentioned that terrorism incidences dropped significantly under his watch and that the government had cordial relations with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani. The latter’s administration also witnessed a decline under PML-N and Pakistan became politically isolated as a result of its foreign policy decisions.
In reference to the most recent and severe crisis in Iran’s history, the PTI founder stated that the recent strikes in Pakistan were incorrect and that the Iranian leadership had erred in thinking that such an incident should have never occurred.
He went on to say that Israel, Iran’s archenemy, will do its utmost to damage our relations, and that his government had likewise done its best to keep relations amicable with India. “However, by expelling Afghans we have increased hatred.”
Free and fair elections, according to Imran, are the answer to the problems facing the country at the moment, and he firmly believes that violence and the use of firearms do not fix these problems.
