Imran slams ban on meetings, denies talks for ‘deal’
RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan said on Wednesday that whatever happening in the country was a “fraud.”
Imran also the imposition of the blanket restriction for two weeks at Adiala Jail over the “excuse” that there was a terror threat.
In an informal chat with journalists in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, he, while terming the general elections held on Feb.8 rigged, said that following the polls the state institutions lost whatever credibility they had.
Imran also rubbished reports of any ‘deal’ with the country’s establishment. “How unfortunate that even my meetings with lawyers and party leaders have been banned,” he deplored.
He said all reports of a security threat were false. “Truth of the mater is that the PTI was not allowed to run its election campaign,” he said, adding, “And even when the party surprised all and sundry by securing a significant number of seats in the elections, the institutions did not acknowledge that mandate given to the party by the people.”
Imran announced that the PTI would approach the Supreme Court (SC) against rigging in the polls.
The former prime minister expressed the fear that once again lawmakers’ loyalties would be purchased ahead of Senate elections through money.
He went on to say that all predictions he had made had proved true. “I am telling you that the situation in Pakistan is going to become similar to that of Sri Lanka as inflation will increase and people will come out on roads.”
Also on Wednesday, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that there were no issues with Imran’s health and he was feeling well.
Talking to the media outside the Adiala Jail, he said all those people who were part of the caretaker setup had now been made part of the federal government. He reiterated that there is no moral justification for the present government to stay in office.
Stating categorically that the PTI believed in negotiations, Gohar said that the party lawmakers were not allowed to talk in the National Assembly.
In a separate development, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a notice to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on a petition seeking his disqualification for allegedly misleading about a piece of land.
A two-member ECP bench comprising Sindh Member Nisar Ahmad Durrani and Balochistan Member Shah Muhammad Jatoi heard the petition and adjourned the case till March 26.