Imran predicts govt collapse in two months

Denies reports that he has tendered any apology for May 9 rioting

RAWALPINDI:

Former prime minister Imran Khan has predicted that the incumbent PML-N led coalition government will collapse in two months, while firmly denying reports that he has tendered any apology for the rioting incidents that erupted on May 9, 2023, following his arrest in Islamabad.

"These fools are not understanding that this government doesn't have more than two months. The government is going to collapse in two months," Imran said on Thursday after a court hearing inside Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail where the former PM is currently detained.

Imran Khan was responding to a query of a journalist in reference to PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui's comment that time was up for the PTI founder.

"I have a lot of time [at my disposal] but they [the rulers] are running out of time," he said, adding that the country was facing a situation worse than Bangladesh. "That is why I say that their names should be placed on the exit control list (ECL)."

Talking with reference to reports that he had tendered a conditional apology for May 9, 2023 riots, the PTI founder said an apology is made by someone who has made a mistake.

"I have not made any unconditional apology. For the past 12 months, I have been saying that the CCTV footage [of May 9 incidents] should be released.

"If it shows PTI workers were involved in rioting, I will apologize, expel them from the party, and ensure they are punished. Am I crazy to tell my people to attack the military? " he added.

When asked why he was demanding CCTV footage of the May 9 incidents when all the footage is on record, and the media reported the event live, Imran said: "PTI workers were not involved in the rioting. The people who set fire to properties were not our people; they were other people, whom I know."

Imran Khan said no matter how long the government kept him behind bars, he was not going to strike a deal with the powers that be.

"A deal is made by someone who has committed a crime. I have no money stashed abroad, nor do I own any property outside the country.

"I have fought all the cases against me and will continue to fight more. The purpose of filing cases against me and my wife was to break the PTI. NAB [National Accountability Bureau] has filed four cases against me for Toshakhana gifts," he added.

When a journalist asked him why his legal team has not presented any witnesses so far in the £190m case while the prosecution has presented their evidence, Imran replied that witnesses will come forward in his defense.

"If I mention their names before time, they will be targeted," he said, adding that his cases were decided in haste. "After my statement under Section 342 was recorded, I wasn't given the opportunity to speak further," he added.

When a journalist asked the PTI founder why he had asked his party to stage a protest outside the GHQ when no other party has ever done that, Imran said it is people's right to protest peacefully.

"I had instructed everyone to protest peacefully. I had said that when I am arrested, you should hold a peaceful protest in front of the GHQ. Obviously, we will protest where the problem originates; this is our constitutional right but we were labeled as terrorists for our peaceful protest," he added.