Imran throws Punjab, K-P gauntlet

LAHORE:

Announcing his much-awaited final date to dissolve the two provincial assemblies where his party is at the helm of affairs, PTI chief Imran Khan on Saturday revealed that the party will dissolve assemblies in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on December 23 (Friday), staking his hard-earned political ground on a bid to trigger early elections.

"We will sacrifice both assemblies... we are sacrificing them for this nation... there will elections in 66 per cent of Pakistan," Imran announced.

The former prime minister -- flanked by Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan -- made the announcement during his address to party supporters and workers at Lahore's Liberty Chowk via video link from his residence in Zaman Park.

Imran said he had thoroughly consulted PTI lawyers before pulling off the provincial power play to spur polls and emphasised that the Constitution did not allow elections to be delayed beyond 90 days of an assembly’s dissolution.

Furthermore, against the backdrop of whisperings that the provincial chiefs would pour cold water on the ‘risky ambitions’, the PTI chief thanked the chief ministers for their cooperation and for "sacrificing" their respective governments for the "betterment of the country".

He then announced that his party would now be starting its election campaign.

Earlier in the day, the former premier held an important consultative meeting with the two chief ministers and other senior party leaders.

After the meeting, Elahi said that he returned Imran’s “mandate of the Punjab Assembly back to him”. He said that the politics of Imran’s rivals “has been defeated”, adding that “rumour mongers will continue to fail as before”.

It is pertinent to note that the clear deadline, earlier than scheduled, from Imran – who took considerable time in consultations before announcing it – came after days of reported parleys to bridge the thorny gulf between the government and the PTI failed to yield any wins.

The PTI chief had sprung the surprise to dissolve his provincial governments in an apparently proverbial ‘burn-the-boats’ decision last month at a Rawalpindi rally.

Historically, polls for the federal and provincial governments are held at the same time in a general election every five years. If the two provincial assemblies are dissolved earlier, separate polls would have to be held for them within 90 days, which could throw up legal problems.

Observers reckon that if the former prime minister manages to win elections of the two assemblies, the victory will pave a way for his return to office in the next general elections to be held in October 2023.

‘Delaying elections’

During the address, Imran anticipated that the coalition government would create hurdles to block the polls, saying that the ruling coalition only wanted to delay elections, not to fix the economy but because they fear they will lose the elections.

"I believe they will not conduct elections in October as well. ECP chief will tell them how to delay it," he added.

"Now the wisdom dictates to go for general elections. But they will not conduct the polls but we will go for elections ourselves. They will try to delay it via the Election Commission of Pakistan, but the Constitution is clear that you cannot delay elections for more than 90 days," he maintained.

"The election commission is conniving with them. A very dishonest man is involved with them, who will tell them ways to delay elections,” Imran said while lacing in CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja without naming him.

Also read: PML-N moves to nullify Imran's threat of PA dissolution

He also announced that PTI will go to the National Assembly speaker and ask him to accept the resignations of all PTI lawmakers. "Last time they chose only eight constituencies which were our weakest to conduct by-elections, but I contested elections on all eight seats and won seven of them," he said.

Imran began his address by deploring the economic woes and drew comparisons between with his government’s performance and that of the incumbent government.

Lamenting the brain drain ongoing in the country, he said that a massive exodus of skilled people and professionals was taking place as economic instability wreaks havoc. He reiterated the need for “fresh and fair elections we fear the country is drowning”.

He bemoaned the rising unemployment and inflation and fading foreign confidence in the country which he believed was dispelling investments. “Our loans are piling up. There was only one way to solve this which we did: to increase the country’s wealth. They (the government) don’t have a plan.”

‘Gen Bajwa conspired against my govt’

The former prime minister, who was ousted through a parliamentary revolt earlier this year, said that former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa was behind the conspiracy to oust his government through the no-confidence motion.

"Question is who was responsible? One man was responsible and his name is Gen Bajwa. I did not use to take his name because he was the army chief. We did not want the army to be badmouthed. We want a strong army," he said.

Imran Khan said that Gen Bajwa was behind the conspiracy. "They [establishment] thought Dar and Shehbaz were some kind of geniuses that they will run government better than us," he added.

After my government fell, Imran continued, the masses supported PTI. "Our popularity increased even more after the no-confidence motion. Despite all efforts, they lost by-elections."

Addressing the audio leaks featuring him, Imran said that his phone was taped when he was the prime minister in violation of the Official Secrets Act. “Where does this happen? If I am talking to my principal secretary then that was leaked.”

Imran claimed that according to an opinion poll, 70 per cent of the populace was demanding a fresh election – a fact he had tried to drive home through his second long march.

He went on to lash out at the incumbent rulers over what he called atrocities on his party, saying that even during General (retd) Pervaiz Musharraf's martial law, he had not witnessed such violence.

"They committed atrocities on us. They put me in jail during Musharraf's regime but I never witnessed violence I saw during this tenure."

Imran said that their social media workers were picked and after giving them a beating, they were released the next day.

He said that PTI leader Senator Azam Swati was stripped naked and beaten just because of one tweet. "All that because of a tweet which had truth in it? Everyone knows NRO-2 was given by General Bajwa."

Imran said that when he was prime minister, he used to ask General Bajwa to take action against the "thieves" as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was under him. "He used to say to me forget about accountability and fix the economy. How can Pakistan progress if you let these dacoits go scot-free? No society can progress until there is a rule of law. The big thieves destroy a country, not the small ones," he remarked.

"As prime minister, I will tell the public how you saved people," he told the participants.

‘Had an inkling about conspiracy year ago’

The former prime minister said that he foresaw that a conspiracy was being plotted against him a year ago before it was executed and Shehbaz's name was popping up for the premier's post despite him having corruption cases worth Rs16 billion against his name.

"Whenever I used to ask General Bajwa, he used to say we will never do it [accountability] because we want continuity," he said.

"General Bajwa used to say they are corrupt but now he is fine with them. Are we cattle? Wherever you take us we will go," he added.

“When I was leaving in March, I had a security threat to my life. I knew they will label it [attempt at his life] as religious extremism. I salute Bushra Bibi who used to say to me that this is jihad and you should go out. When I will be able to walk, I will be on the streets again. It is jihad for me and I will never stop."

‘Gang of thieves’

Imran said there was a consensus within his party that until transparent elections are held, the country will sink further. "I sold everything I had abroad. I gave a money trail. My everything is in Pakistan today. I had every opportunity... I lived abroad. I married there. I could have a British passport," he said, asking the youth to never lose hope.

Imran said that he feared the "gang of thieves" was taking the country towards destruction.

"Ask any labourer, farmer, and businessman... there is a disparity between income and expenditures... our industries are closing. During our tenure industries grew. Large-scale manufacturing grew. We collected record taxes. We got record remittances. Agriculture grew by 4 per cent. We helped farmers. We were taking Pakistan towards prosperity."

The PTI chief said that in the last seven months, 0.75 million Pakistanis have left the country as there was so much hopelessness. "These were skilled workers, doctors, engineers etc. There is a 'daku raj' in the country," he added.

Imran said that Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif had left Pakistan ‘on the verge of default’ in 2018 during their previous tenure as well. However, he added, the PTI government performed exceedingly well despite challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic.

"Pakistan was among the top three countries which managed the coronavirus pandemic very well. Whatever I am saying you can check on your mobile phones. Our growth rate was nearly 6 in our fourth year in power. We only grew at this rate during Ayub, Zia and Musharraf's tenures but that was due to US dollars. We did not get any aid but we managed this growth rate."

He said that there is a 100 per cent chance today that if someone gives a loan to Pakistan it will not be returned, adding that this figure was at 5 per cent during PTI's tenure.

"Industries are closing down and unemployment is on the rise. Inflation is at a 50-year high. Businessmen do not trust this government. Our loans are increasing. Their only hope is China and IMF that somehow they give money. But the way [to improve the economy] is what we did. If they had done well with the economy we would have said okay let's have elections on time."