Imran warns 'umpires' against 'match-fixing'
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday clarified that he was not waging a battle against the state institutions but cautioned them to employ the time left at their disposal to rescue the nation from the thieves “before the game slips out of hands”.
The former prime minister was addressing his party’s power show at Islamabad’s Parade Ground held to protest against the PML-N-led coalition government and the economic woes.
He alleged that the PML-N-led coalition wanted to pit him against the army and judiciary but asserted such attempts would go in vain. "Listen closely, our life and death is in Pakistan."
However, in the same breathe, Imran went on to ask the institutions as to why did they allow thieves to be imposed on Pakistan.
“Is curbing corruption from the country only my responsibility? They closed down corruption cases worth billions of rupees by amending the NAB law,” he remarked.
He further stressed that people have neither accepted the “US conspiracy” nor will they allow these “thieves” to continue their rule, adding that the "slaves and boot polishers" were responsible for the country's economic plight.
The PTI chairman continued that the judiciary and the "neutrals" — a thinly-veiled reference to the military establishment — will be answerable to God for what they had done. "God will ask judges, 'I gave u status to establish justice, did you do that or not, and did you protect the weak from the powerful, and did you bring powerful under law or not?
"God will also ask the neutrals that 'how did you allow these thieves to be imposed over this country?'"
'Umpires on their side'
Speaking about the upcoming Punjab by-elections, Imran alerted his party workers and supporters to the factor that "the umpires" stand on the government's side, asking them to be wary of rigging during the by-polls.
"We have 20 by-elections [coming up] in Punjab. The only way they can win is through rigging. The people are against them, [but] the umpires are with them," he said.
"We have to defeat these thieves despite their umpires."
"No matter what tactic they use ... whether they rig the election or use the police, the nation will never accept them," Imran said.
“They will rig the elections with the help of Election Commission of Pakistan which has become controversial and biased… it can never conduct free and fair elections.”
The former premier said he introduced electronic voting machines (EVMs) to make the electoral process transparent. “All political parties and the ECP did not allow elections to be held through EVM,” he added.
“They [political opponents] can only win this through rigging because people are against them… not people but umpire is with them.”
At the outset of the protest rally, Imran began by explaining why he had chosen to end his long march on May 26. "I knew there would be anarchy that evening and people would have come face to face with the police and the Rangers," he said. "[This] nation, the police, the Rangers [all ] are mine. I don't want to spread anarchy within my nation. I had set out just for one purpose: imported government unacceptable."
"I did not stage a sit-in because we knew that a sea of people will come out in the evening and there were chances of clashes as people were angry due to police crackdown on protesters,” he said while referring to the much-hyped ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ protest that he called off abruptly in May.
He also accused the government of wilting under duress exerted by the IMF within two months, saying that he resisted the Fund's demands for two and a half years but raised petrol prices by a mere Rs10 as opposed to the "sky high" hike made by the current setup.
Condemning last night’s attack on senior journalist Ayaz Amir in Lahore, Imran said such tactics cannot silence the dissent as people have broken the “idol of fear”.
“I want to a send a message to my institutions that the intimidation tactics to silence the dissent and lodging FIRs against journalists will not work.”
Code of conduct
PTI had given an undertaking to the district administration of Islamabad and agreed to 39 conditions for holding a rally on July 2.
PTI Islamabad chapter president of the central secretariat Ali Nawaz Awan signed the undertaking – code of conduct – before Islamabad’s deputy commissioner taking full responsibility for any untoward incident and agreeing to be held responsible in case of violation of the agreement.
Through the code of conduct, the party has agreed that the gathering shall not disturb or disrupt the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to freedom of movement, trade and business, and education, and has assured that it will not block any road – Expressway, Murree Road or service roads.
The former ruling party agreed that the gathering shall end at 12 midnight, stating that it will be the organiser’s duty to ensure the dispersal after the event ends.