Rigging probe: Imran gives govt until Jan 18 to form judicial panel
Warns party will relaunch demonstrations if govt does not form commission
PTI chief Imran Khan. PHOTO: ONLINE
ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday gave the government until January 18 to form a judicial commission to probe alleged rigging in the 2013 elections or else the party will relaunch its protest movement.
“The government should take a decision by January 18 otherwise we will relaunch the protest movement from D-Chowk,” PTI Chairman Imran Khan said at a news conference following a meeting of his party’s core committee.
Accusing the government of employing delaying tactics, Imran said that the government was taking advantage of the security situation in the country in the aftermath of the December 16 bloody Taliban rampage at the Army Public School in Peshawar.
Imran, who spearheaded the 4-month-long anti-government campaign to unseat Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had called off the movement shortly after the APS Peshawar attack that killed over 150 people in Peshawar, most of them children.
Wrapping up his campaign in the heart of the capital, the PTI leader, in a veiled warning, had urged the government to set up the proposed judicial commission or else his party would return to the streets. Though the government resumed talks with Imran’s party, both sides failed to hammer out a deal on core issues. Subsequently, the moribund negotiations ended in a stalemate.
Flanked by members of his immediate political coterie, Imran said his party would not hesitate to return to Islamabad’s D-Chowk if the judicial panel was not formed. The PTI chief said his party ended its sit-in to support the government in its fight against terrorism. “We took the decision on our own and no one dictated terms to us,” he added.
Reiterating his stance, the PTI chief claimed that 30,000 bogus votes had been polled in NA-122, the constituency Imran had lost to PML-N candidate Ayaz Sadiq. He added that Jahangir Tareen, another party official, lost his seat because 49,000 fake votes had been polled in NA-154. “The government should not drag its feet if it is not guilty of malpractice in the general elections,” Imran pointed out.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2014.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday gave the government until January 18 to form a judicial commission to probe alleged rigging in the 2013 elections or else the party will relaunch its protest movement.
“The government should take a decision by January 18 otherwise we will relaunch the protest movement from D-Chowk,” PTI Chairman Imran Khan said at a news conference following a meeting of his party’s core committee.
Accusing the government of employing delaying tactics, Imran said that the government was taking advantage of the security situation in the country in the aftermath of the December 16 bloody Taliban rampage at the Army Public School in Peshawar.
Imran, who spearheaded the 4-month-long anti-government campaign to unseat Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had called off the movement shortly after the APS Peshawar attack that killed over 150 people in Peshawar, most of them children.
Wrapping up his campaign in the heart of the capital, the PTI leader, in a veiled warning, had urged the government to set up the proposed judicial commission or else his party would return to the streets. Though the government resumed talks with Imran’s party, both sides failed to hammer out a deal on core issues. Subsequently, the moribund negotiations ended in a stalemate.
Flanked by members of his immediate political coterie, Imran said his party would not hesitate to return to Islamabad’s D-Chowk if the judicial panel was not formed. The PTI chief said his party ended its sit-in to support the government in its fight against terrorism. “We took the decision on our own and no one dictated terms to us,” he added.
Reiterating his stance, the PTI chief claimed that 30,000 bogus votes had been polled in NA-122, the constituency Imran had lost to PML-N candidate Ayaz Sadiq. He added that Jahangir Tareen, another party official, lost his seat because 49,000 fake votes had been polled in NA-154. “The government should not drag its feet if it is not guilty of malpractice in the general elections,” Imran pointed out.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2014.