‘Unfair elections’ to create more instability

PTI founding chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday claimed that a unfair elections would create more instability in the country, saying that his party would rather sit in the opposition than form a coalition government The incarcerated ex-premier’s remarks came during an informal conversation with the media at the Adiala Jail.

Imran claimed that 90 per cent of soldiers will be voting for his party on Feb 8. Referring to former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa - who Imran accuses of “orchestrating” his ouster - the PTI founder said that the former spy chief, in a meeting at the President’s Secretariat said “the entire army is with you”.

He added that Bajwa’s decisions “landed Pakistan in deep water”. However, Imran clarified that the entire institution cannot be blamed for what happened. He said the current objective was to bring “incompetents” to power, “to have a parliament that can be easily controlled”.

“I have been saying since March 19, 2023, that there is no solution except holding free and fair elections,” the former premier reiterated. “My first mistake was to form the government. I should have gone for re-elections,” he said. “Extending Gen (retd) Bajwa’s tenure was my second mistake.”

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He said it would rather be useful for the party to sit in the opposition than make a coalition government. “An unfair election will create more instability in the country,” Imran said, adding that reforms were needed to reduce economic deficit and uphold rule of law.

Imran criticised PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif for contesting in the upcoming elections, questioning his party's performance during its 16 months in power. The PTI chief elaborated that during the tenure of Nawaz's younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, the economy suffered immeasurably as around 1.5 million professionals left the country and Pakistan's external deficit increased manifold.

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The PTI leader claimed that when he was ousted from power, the growth rate hovered around 6.7 per cent which "reduced to zero" during Shehbaz's tenure and inflation increased from 12.4 per cent to 38 per cent. He added that incidents of terrorism saw a marked decrease during his tenure and his government had good relations with then Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, which also saw a downturn during PML-N's tenure and due to its foreign policy, Pakistan was isolated.

Referring to the recent flare-up with Iran, the worst in the country's history, the PTI founder said it was wrong for Tehran to carry out strikes in Pakistan and the Iranian leadership made a mistake as it should not have happened. “Iran's enemy, Israel, will try to spoil our relations,” he said, adding that his government also tried its best to maintain cordial relations with India. "However, by expelling Afghans, we have increased hatred."

Maintaining that guns and violence do not solve issues, Imran said a political government seeks political solutions and the solution to the country's current issues was to hold free and fair elections. In his message to the nation for the upcoming general elections, the PTI founder said if the anti-constitutional forces succeeded in keeping the nation enslaved by stealing the Feb 8 election, then thieves would rise and rule and the ship of the country would descend further into the vortex. “The power of your vote should be calculated.”