Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan marked the ‘foundation day’ of his party on Tuesday by predicting that it will return to power ahead of next year’s anniversary.
The PTI was founded on April 25, 1996, in Lahore, securing one seat in the National Assembly during the 2002 elections. Recalling those days, Khan said many people had abandoned him in the years prior to his securing any popular support. “On the 28th anniversary of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, you will be in power,” he told supporters via video-link. Urging the supporters to continue working for “real freedom,” he reiterated that prosperity can only come through justice, democracy, and freedom.
“If there is any political force that can fix all the woes of the country, it is PTI,” he claimed, despite failing to achieve even a fraction of his promises in the roughly four years he was in power prior to his ouster through a vote of no-confidence. “We will come into power through public mandate. I hope that our country comes out of the quagmire it is in next year,” he said, adding that the opposition had described his party as “selected” after it had formed a government in 2018.
Criticizing Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif for allegedly trying to get him disqualified, he questioned how the self-exiled former prime minister could decide the fate of Pakistan. “He first fled the country during the rule of General Pervez Musharraf. Now, when the court sentenced him, he fled the country again on the pretext of a blood platelet count,” he said, while accusing Sharif of coming into power with the support of “handlers”—Khan’s euphemism for the military establishment. “In 2013, he won the elections through rigging,” he alleged. “I dare Nawaz Sharif to contest elections against me. I am confident that I will win against him despite all support by umpires,” he claimed.
“It is in their [government] interest to remain in power and hence they are delaying the elections,” he claimed, while reiterating allegations that PTI leaders and workers were being subjected to custodial torture. “If a government upholds the rule of law, these thieves could not have smuggled out billions of rupees of looted money,” he claimed.
Accusing authorities of trying to undermine the superior judiciary by encouraging rifts within the Supreme Court, he claimed the PTI’s struggle was for the rule of law and a strong justice system in the country. “All the people of Pakistan should join this struggle,” he said. “Until we defeat the thieves through elections, we will not be able to fix the system. The rulers imposed on us would not fix the system, as it serves their interests,” he claimed.
Continuing his now-routine criticism of former Army chief Gen. (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Khan accused him of imposing “thieves” on the country. He said the country could not “break the shackles of slavery” without establishing rule of law. “Without a strong justice system and the rule of law, Pakistan cannot progress,” he said, lamenting that only the “corrupt” prosper in Pakistan, while the “honest” face exploitation. It was this reason, he claimed, that people were seeking to leave the country to find employment abroad. “Pakistan only needs to mend its justice system and uphold the rule of law and everything else will fall into its place. The country will progress and people will prosper,” he claimed, reiterating vows of “facilitating” overseas Pakistanis for investment.