‘Routine meeting’: US envoy, PTI chief discuss prevailing situation

Imran apprises Olson of his party’s position on Islamabad sit-in

ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador Richard Olson met Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan at his Bani Gala residence on the edge of Islamabad on Saturday.

PTI Information Secretary Shireen Mazari told The Express Tribune that Ambassador Olson had requested the meeting which discussed the prevailing situation in the country.

She added that the PTI chief apprised the American envoy of his party’s well-known position on its sit-in in Islamabad and its struggle to get justice for alleged rigging in the May 2013 elections.

The meeting, however, did not specifically discuss PTI’s upcoming November 30 rally, Mazari said in response to a question. “This was a routine meeting, similar to ones held with the envoys of the European Union and China,” she said, adding that the PTI was the second-largest and presently the most popular party in the country.

PTI won’t call off sit-in

Addressing his supporters at D-Chowk later in the day, Imran Khan said his party would not call off its sit-in until it got justice for rigging in last year’s polls.

“We have been denied justice and will not end our sit-in till it is done,” he said as PTI’s sit-in marked its 101th day. “The rulers who hoped we would have given up in the face of harsh winter will be disappointed.”

Justifying PTI’s protest, Imran said his party was only exercising its right. He once again vowed to bring those ‘who stole his party’s mandate’ to justice.

Talking about democracy, the PTI chairman lamented that there had never been true democracy in the country anyway. He said the ruling elite had been looting the nation under the pretext of democracy, adding that only real democracy could bring prosperity to the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2014.