PM claims Imran spews venom against 'institution that made him'

Says 'if Imran spends his entire life thanking the military he still would not be able to pay it back for its favours'

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while commenting on political rival Imran Khan on Sunday, claimed that the military had gone to “great lengths for four years to make him successful” in the hope that perhaps his “success” might bring prosperity to Pakistan.

The PM was addressing a meeting with YouTubers in Lahore where he engaged with the attendees in a conversation.

“Was the vote of no confidence unconstitutional or unlawful?” he questioned when prompted by a YouTuber to comment on Imran’s criticisms targeting the government.

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“The facts that were revealed lay bare the truth that to make the vote of no confidence unsuccessful, Imran Niazi had said that in return you may get as long an extension as you like,” added PM Shehbaz referring to DG ISI’s claims that the PTI chief had offered the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa an indefinite extension to his tenure in return for saving his government from ouster.

The PM expressed his horror over the thought that an “offer is being made to end a parliamentary matter in an unconstitutional manner”.

Read 'I don't talk to boot polishers': Imran responds to Shehbaz as PTI's long march resumes

“Imagine a person spews venom about an institution that had nurtured him,” he continued.

“I believe that the institution [military] had set aside all barriers that perhaps Pakistan would prosper through this man and gave him such support that neither did anyone receive in the past 75 years nor would they ever after him,” he added.

“And on a lighter note, I say, if we had even gotten 20 per cent of the support he has gotten, then under the leadership of Mian Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan would have gone up like a rocket,” said the PM “and yet that man [Imran] failed despite all these pushes.”

“A beat-up old car starts running after a few pushes,” he explained “but this car, even after all these pushes did not run.”

“And then this man pushes that institution for his own selfish reasons,” criticised PM Shehbaz, “he maligns the COAS, gets statements from Shehbaz Gill and [Azam] Swati, and maligns the institution in the most despicable of words, then [how] can any sensible Pakistani stand that?"

"And then fine, you criticise a person, but then to go on to [talk about] their families, not even sparing their children," he added, "not even an animal does that."

'Imran is Hitler'

During the meeting, the PM also compared Imran with Adolf Hitler in that the latter too had succeeded in gaining a significant following like Imran’s “cult”.

“But even then, at least Hitler had actually managed to achieve some things” he noted counting the construction of industries and the “world famous” German high-way system – the Autobahn – amongst them “before he destroyed it all with his own hands because he was a fascist”.

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“So he had at least achieved something, but you don’t even have a single thing to your name,” he said addressing the PTI chief.

The PM claimed that this was the reason that in his rallies and political sit-ins Imran was “unable to share anything about his own performance” and so all he could do was “call others thieves and robbers”. Even though, he said Imran himself “turned out to be “the biggest embezzler of all”, as he referred to the Toshakhana (gift depository) reference verdict.

'PTI hurting Pakistan's foreign ties'

Speaking about Imran’s Azadi march that is feared to put the likely visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Pakistan in November on hold, the PM implied that it would not be the first time that the PTI chief’s political protests hurt the country’s foreign ties.

“It is very unfortunate that history is repeating itself,” he said, “in September 2013, [Chinese] President Xi Jinping was to come to Pakistan and these sit-ins were being staged. Dirty laundry was hanging outside and the streets were filled with filth.”

“I am personally aware that the ambassador to China said that please end the sit-in for three days, our friend China’s president is to visit, you may continue the sit-in after that trip and he [Imran] said we will not do that,” he continued.

PM Shehbaz revealed that then-premier Nawaz Sharif had tasked him with meeting various institutional heads and the Chinese ambassador. “I said if the visit is delayed it will hurt Pakistan greatly,” he added “but they [PTI] did not listen to us and that trip was delayed by seven months”.

“And today again,” the premier alleged that Imran is back on the streets “for his own personal gains”.

'Imran approached for talks'

Shehbaz also claimed that a "businessman" who “has nothing to do with politics” had approached him with a message from Imran asking for negotiations while Imran continued to threaten him in public.

The premier alleged that Imran had wanted to find a resolution on two matters: the appointment of the COAS and the election date. “He proposed he will put forward three names and asked us to give three”.

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“I said did they take us into confidence when they decided the amendments to the army act?” he revealed adding that he had refused to negotiate on the matter because the appointment of the COAS was a “constitutional matter”.

PM Shehbaz also criticised Imran for not sharing a parliamentary attitude and having resorted to divisive politics. As an example of his own attitude being different from Imran's, he claimed that he had spoken with MBS during his recent visit and requested him to release all those who had been guilty of disrespecting Masjid-e-Nabwi after they heckled and shouted slogans against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation during their visit to the holy site earlier this year.

The premier said that Prince Salman had assured him of their release orders to be issued at the earliest and added that he had done this because he saw himself as the "prime minister of all of Pakistan, not just one party".