Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Wednesday reiterated his calls for the military and judiciary to “push the country toward elections,” as he confirmed that he will unveil his plans for the dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies during a rally on Dec. 17.
In a televised address, the ousted prime minister urged the military and judiciary “for God’s sake” to steer the country toward free and fair elections—a patently unconstitutional demand—while claiming he did not want any “help” from them. “I want to say this to all the institutions today … what is happening will affect all of you,” he warned, adding that the entire country would collapse in case of a default, which would impact national security “the most.”
However, he claimed, this did not mean he was seeking any help from the establishment. “I want to clarify today that I’m not asking for help from anyone … I want the establishment to be neutral so its honor increases,” he said, in an about-face from his earlier claims of neutrality not being permitted for humans in Islam. Stressing that Pakistan needed a “strong Army,” he said this could only be achieved if it remained neutral and didn’t interfere in the political process.
Echoing remarks from his rivals—including PMLN leader Nawaz Sharif—the PTI chief said criticizing some “black sheep” in the Army was not the same as criticizing the entire institution. “If there are black sheep in the institutions … then the institution should raise its stature by taking action against them,” he said.
Dissolving assemblies
During his speech, Khan maintained he would deliver on his threat to dissolve the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies—announced last month—saying he would announce a date for this during a public rally in Lahore on Dec. 17 (Saturday). Party sources claim this would occur on Dec. 23.
“Once we dissolve both assemblies, we will hold elections in the provinces,” he said, adding that PTI MNAs would also confirm their resignations to Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. Claiming this would mean roughly 70 percent of Pakistan would be facing elections, he said it should encourage the entire country to move toward general elections. “But unfortunately, our leaders are corrupt and convicts. They do not care about what happens to Pakistan and when bad times take over the country, they will exit the country,” he said, reiterating that elections were the only means to achieve economic stability.
Emphasizing that markets cannot perform well during times of uncertainty, he claimed investors and businessmen were reluctant to invest because Pakistan was at the risk of default—which the government denies. He also lamented that rampant inflation was making it difficult for people to make ends meet, as the prices of both electricity and oil had soared since the ouster of his government. “We are standing on the brink of destruction,” he claimed, adding that “injustice” was a major reason for the economic crisis.
Claiming a “conspiracy” had been hatched to destroy Pakistan, he said the country’s national security would be hampered if it defaulted and anyone who helped the country would extract stringent demands for its revival.
Gen. (retd.) Bajwa
In what has become a routine occurrence since the retirement of Gen. (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa, the PTI chief criticized the former Army chief for urging him to focus on the economy while in government rather than accountability. “Gen (retd.) Bajwa told me to grant NRO-II to the then-opposition when [government was passing laws related to] Financial Action Task Force. It was Gen. (retd.) Bajwa who gave NRO-II to the then-opposition,” he alleged, without offering any evidence as per usual.
“An attempt on my life was made to silence me,” he said, adding the condition of human rights in Pakistan was no better than that in India-held Kashmir. “Even an enemy could not do to Pakistan what the former army chief did,” he said of the man who several PTI leaders have now admitted played a “major role” in supporting their government during its time in power.
Lamenting that the PTI had been “treated with open hostility” in the past seven months, he claimed that cases against PTI leaders Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gill were attempts “to weaken Pakistan’s biggest national party.” Urging the judiciary to take action, he questioned who else could protect fundamental rights.
Claiming he had never seen cases of “big dacoits” being closed in his 70 years of experience—a patently false assertion considering his own government closed similar cases against his ally Parvez Elahi—he said no country could progress without rule of law and justice. “Why are we here? Because the poor people are in jail as powerful people are receiving NROs, getting their cases closed, and coming back to the country,” he claimed, as he reiterated calls for an “investigation” into the—reportedly natural—deaths of several witnesses over the past year.