Khan warns of ‘civil war’ if fresh polls not announced
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan has warned that the country would descend into a civil war if fresh elections were not announced.
In an interview to Bol News on Wednesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman said he is waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on his party’s plea to provide protection to the protestors, after which he said he would issue the date for the next march demanding general elections, the Dawn newspaper reported.
“We will see if they allow us to go towards elections through legal and constitutional means otherwise this country will go towards (a) civil war,” he warned.
Khan further said there was “no question” of returning to the National Assembly as that would “mean accepting the conspiracy” that had removed his government.
Khan was removed from office in April through a no-confidence vote but he refused to accept the outcome and blamed that the US was involved in toppling his government.
The PTI chairman has been protesting ever since and calling fresh elections because, in his words, the incumbent coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) party was “imported” and not a true representative of the Pakistani people.
‘Actual power centre in Pakistan lies elsewhere’
In an unusual attack on Pakistan’s powerful military, Khan has admitted that his government was a “weak one” which was “blackmailed from everywhere” as the power was not with him and “everyone knows where that is”.
The PTI chief said his government had been “weak” when it came to power and had to seek coalition partners, adding that if the same situation were to arise again, he would opt for re-elections and seek a majority government or none at all.
“Our hands were tied. We were blackmailed from everywhere. Power wasn’t with us. Everyone knows where the power lies in Pakistan so we had to rely on them,” the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician said, without elaborating any further who he was referring to.
Khan, who came to power in 2018, reportedly with the backing of the military, is the only Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament.