Pakistan Terek-e-Insafe
(PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday urged the
“military establishment to refrain from political engineering” in the general elections later this year, accusing
former army chief Gen (retted) Qamar Jived Baja of causing the current political and economic chaos in the country.
Addressing the party’s women convention in Karachi via video link from
his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, the PTI chairman underscored that currently,
the “PTI is the only party that can pull the country out of the current economic quagmire”
, reiterating his demand for free and fair elections in the country.
The former premier slammed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N),
saying that the plan to impose the PML-N government on Punjab was now under way,
Imran said, “Unlike the past, now people of Pakistan cannot even attach their
hopes to the establishment as a powerful man – Gen [retted] Qamar – has pushed the country into the
current chaos.”
Now, he added, only a strong government backed by public mandate could take difficult
decisions required to heal the ailing economy
next general elections to weaken the PTI – which he stressed “is the most popular political party”,
urging the powerful quarters to refrain from making such a mistake as a government formed
against the will of the people would not be able to resolve mammoth problems faced by the country.
Lashing out at the PML-N and the PPP leadership, Imran said:
“For 20 years, both of these two ruling families have been levelling allegations against each other.”
highlighting that people were losing their lives to buy a sack of flour.. “So far 750,000 Pakistanis have left their homeland.”
Earlier, Imran
alleged that the military establishment did not appear to be neutral in
the matter of the vote of confidence against Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
He claimed that his party’s lawmakers were being So far, he said, at least three PTI members of the Punjab Assembly had confirmed being
approached by the “establishment people”.
Imran said that the allied parties in Punjab wanted to complete their numbers game before the
court asked Elahi to obtain a vote of confidence, and had prepared a strategy in this regard.