Regime-change conspiracy hatched in Pakistan: Imran

LAHORE:

While claiming that the incumbent government has undone all the good work that his government had done in its four-year rule, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has reiterated that his party will take to the streets if the government does not hold polls according to the apex court’s order.

“I ask the nation and the PTI supporters to stage nationwide protests if the incumbent rulers do not hold elections,” the former prime minister said while addressing the nation on Sunday via a video link to mark the completion of one year since the ouster of his government as a result of a no-trust motion.

“I sacrificed my two provincial governments after detailed deliberations with constitutional experts. As per the Constitution, it is very clear that elections will be held within 90 days after the dissolution of an assembly. But the incumbent rulers are trying to run away from elections,” he said.

The PTI, which still controlled two provinces—Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) despite ouster of its government in the Centre, dissolved the provincial assemblies in the two provinces in mid-January in a bid to force the federal government into announcing general elections.

The coalition government has, however, refused to hold snap polls while also making attempts to delay elections in Punjab and the K-P despite a Supreme Court verdict.

The PTI chief claimed that the conspiracy to topple his government was hatched in Pakistan and not in the United States. “Former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa conspired against an elected government in collaboration with the PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement] parties when all economic indicators were showing positive trends.

“General Bajwa hired former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani for lobbying against my government in the US. Bajwa also joined hands with Shehbaz Sharif, who was about to be indicted in a multi-billion-rupee corruption case. The latter was then imposed on the country,” he said.

Highlighting his government’s achievements, he said when the PTI came into power, the country was virtually bankrupt as the current account deficit stood at around $20 billion.

“We stabilised the economy during the first year of our government. Later, we had to fight the coronavirus pandemic while protecting the economy and lower income strata.

“All international organisations appreciated Pakistan’s strategy to handle the pandemic and safeguard the national economy.

“Despite the pandemic, Pakistan showed historic growth ranging between 5.7% and 6% though the country had to face supply chain problems and prices super cycle owing to shortages and lockdowns.”

Imran claimed that Pakistan showed remarkable growth during his government.

“The country witnessed the highest growth rates in 70 years without the influx of dollars which historically gave a boost to the economy during military dictatorships,” he added.

Imran said he transformed terrorism into tourism. However, the incumbent rulers had undone this too. They had all their focus on closing corruption cases filed against them and saving their looted wealth.

He said after the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan, it was the right time to engage with the new Afghan government to address cross-border terrorism. “However, the present government has all its focus on amending accountability laws to save their skins.”

During the PTI rule, he said, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had recovered Rs480 billion while incumbent rulers had given themselves a waiver of Rs1,100 billion by amending the NAB laws.

“They ruined all state institutions, like NAB, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), police and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), by using them against their opponents.

“Sanctions were imposed on mainstream media; journalists and social media activists were abducted to suppress the voices. Unidentified persons were making phone calls to media owners to silence their voices.

“Such oppressive tactics have not been employed even during dictatorships. Police are being used against unarmed political workers, even women and children.”

He said around 144 cases, including 40 terrorism cases, had been registered against him. His house was attacked for requesting the court to change the venue of his case hearing for security reasons.

“Over 3,100 workers of my party have been arrested. Party leaders and workers are facing the worst custodial torture,” he said, adding that his life is still under threat.

Highlighting the economic performance of his government, Imran said, large scale manufacturing (LSM) was growing at 10%, around 5.5 million new jobs were created; IT exports showed 75% increase for the first time and historic money was pumped into the agriculture economy.

“However, all the good work has been undone by the incumbent rulers. Just in a year, the country’s economic growth rate has fallen from 6% to 0.4%. Around four million people have been pushed below the poverty line. Inflation has risen from 12% to 35% while food inflation is touching 50%.

“Price of a 20-kg wheat flour sack has increased from Rs1,140 to Rs2,800 and over 20 precious lives have been lost in the struggle to get a flour bag,” he lamented.