Imran threatens countrywide protests

PTI chief says he does not ‘trust’ PM to form judicial commission if sit-in ends.

ISLAMABAD:

Ratcheting up pressure on the government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan announced that the party would carry out protests across the country following the prime minister’s refusal to resign.

“I will announce our future course of action on Sunday,” he told supporters at a rally at D-Chowk in the capital. The announcement followed a day of speculation over whether the Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif was asked to ‘mediate’ or ‘facilitate’ between the government and the protesters.

The party chief said that once the sit-in ends, he is afraid that Nawaz Sharif will renege on his promise to form a judicial commission overseeing allegations of rigging in the elections last year. In his speech, Imran vowed to bring back $200billion of Pakistani money stashed in Swiss banks. He said that around 70 cases filed against Nawaz are pending with NAB but they have yet to be investigated. He also targeted opposition leader Khursheed Shah.

Addressing dozens of party workers during the day, Imran Khan clarified that his party had not requested the army to play the role of mediator, as alleged by the government. Imran said that he informed army chief General Raheel in a meeting on Thursday night that he does not trust Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and wants him to resign.

“I want to tell you what I told the army chief. I told General Raheel that I do not trust Nawaz Sharif at all,” Imran said, while addressing his supporters. He recounted that General Raheel had told him that the prime minister would not resign. However, the PTI chief told the army chief he would not accept anything less than the PM’s resignation.

“I told General Raheel every reason as to why I will not leave without their resignations,” he stated. Imran criticised the PM during his address and said that he has him ‘by his collar’. “I have nothing to lose. I was ready for my three constituencies to be looked into,” Imran said, adding, “If anyone comes forward with allegations of rigging in K-P, I am not afraid of being investigated.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2014.