Politics

Long march won’t be delayed past October: Imran Khan warns govt

Published

8 months ago

Farwa

Giving them more time before launching long march.
Dialogue with the ruling elite out of question.
Demands re-election in Karachi, Daska.

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan said Monday that his party’s anti-government “Azadi March” would not be delayed past October as they have completed their preparations.

In a press conference, the PTI chairman said: “My march will be held in October if the government does not announce the date for the next general election.”

The PTI chief warned the government that multitudes of people would take to the streets responding to his call to the nation for the anti-government march.

Khan said he was still cutting the government some slack so that they could decide on it. “I am actually giving them some more time before embarking on our long march protest.”

“[Interior Minister] Rana Sanaullah won’t even know what hit him, such is my preparation,” Khan warned the top minister, who recently claimed the government’s preparation was 10 times more as compared to May 25.

He said dialogue was out of the question with the ruling elite. “There’s no negotiation with criminals. You can hold reconciliation talks with Baloch or Sindhi nationalists, but not with the felons like them,” Khan added.

Khan’s press conference came after his party won Sunday’s by-election by a major margin. The PTI chief won six of the eight National Assembly seats up for grabs and his party added two more to their seat count in the Punjab Assembly.

But not completely satisfied with the results, Khan alleged that the elections were held in the constituencies where PTI was weak and the ruling coalition fielded joint candidates to ensure his party’s defeat.

He said that the government did not wish to hold elections and used floods as an excuse. “They said that there were floods. But in the constituencies where elections were held, floods did not have an effect there.”

Khan claimed that he lost Karachi’s Malir by-polls to a PPP candidate — Abdul Hakeem Baloch — as it was rigged.

“Sindh’s election commissioner was on the provincial government’s payroll. We reject [Malir’s] by-election and demand re-election. The PPP swung the polls to their advantage through indiscriminate rigging,” Khan alleged.

He said the nation had rejected this legislature as well as this government and wanted new polls across the country.

Khan condemned the law enforcement agencies for booking the ageing PTI leader Azam Swati in a “baseless case” and then allegedly subjecting him to grievous bodily harm in police custody. “They beat up the 75-year-old in front of his grandchildren.”

Chiding the government for allegedly torturing PTI leader and former federal minister, he said that what the authorities did to him was “utterly shameless”.

“Doesn’t the Constitution provide the people of Pakistan the right to their self-esteem? These rulers were afraid of elections,” Khan said adding, it was time to move forward.

“We will approach the international human rights bodies against these violations.”

Khan announces decisions of party’s senior leadership pertaining to torture:

PTI to call special session of KP, Punjab assemblies on torture of its leaders, journalists;
PTI senators to file petition against torture of its leaders;
Party to write letters to int’l oragnisations — human rights committee in Geneva, UN special rapporteur on torture, EU special representative on human rights, int’l parliamentary union;
Long march anytime soon.

CEC PML-N’s ‘inside’ man

Khan said that they can win elections without the support of umpires.

Berating Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, the PTI chair said: “I have not seen a more dishonest election commissioner than Sikandar Sultan Raja in this country.”

“Sikandar Sultan is PML-N’s man inside the election commission,” Khan alleged and added that this election was held by the ECP in cahoots with the government.

“Raja did not allow electronic voting machines (EVM),” he said, adding that If there were EVMs, they could not have rigged the elections.

Khan also disclosed they had moved Supreme Judicial Commission and their case was being heard.

The PTI leader also demanded re-election in Daska.

“I have been saying this for the last three years that they (the government) were actually trying to get away with an amnesty for their wrong deeds under the NRO,” Khan said adding that Gen Musharraf dealt a blow to the country by offering them NROs.

He said the PML-N was imposed on the country when it was on an upward trajectory. “Ironically, in this country, a small-time thief always gets caught but the big-time one remains at large,” Khan said.

The US issue

Saying that he was accused of isolating the country, Khan dared his accusers to read his reply to the tweet of former US president Donald Trump immediately after his “illegal” ouster.

“Americans respect nationalists,” Khan said.

He alleged that the government spent hundreds of millions of rupees on their US visits. “Bilawal was touring the whole world, while Sindh was sinking.”

He said it was old propaganda against Pakistan that was still being actively pursued and they were pushing the country to the brink of default. “I had said they left the country in the lurch of default twice before.”

According to Khan, he and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin had conveyed the message to the establishment that the economy would become hard to handle [in the hands of the PML-N-led government].

“They are not giving any consideration to the country.”

Politics

Ex-Punjab CM Usman Buzdar becomes latest PTI leader to quit politics

Published

18 hours ago

Farwa

Buzdar cites current circumstances reason behind quitting politics.
Former CM calls on all stakeholders to reach a consensus.
He condemns May 9 incidents, says “we should avoid such incidents”.

Former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar Friday became the latest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader to quit politics in the aftermath of the May 9 violent riots.

“First of all, I condemn the May 9 incidents. The military installations which were targeted were properties of the state of Pakistan and I believe we should avoid such incidents,” Buzdar told journalists during a press conference in Lahore.

Buzdar, whose term as Punjab’s chief minister was cut short in March 2022, said he had always stood with the armed forces of Pakistan and will continue to do so.

“I have always committed to politics of nobility […] but due to the current circumstances, I have decided to quit politics,” the former chief minister, once considered to be close to PTI Chairman Imran Khan, said.

The former chief minister called on all stakeholders to reach a consensus and asked the authorities to release all those who were innocent from jail.

The heat

Khan’s party has been feeling the heat of the state’s might after his party workers burnt and smashed military installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, after his arrest on May 9 — a day the army dubbed as “Black Day”.

Several party leaders and thousands of workers have been rounded up in connection with the violent protests and the army has insisted that the people involved in attacks on military installations be tried under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act.

A close aide of Khan, Asad Umar, has relinquished his posts of secretary general and core committee member, citing the ongoing situation.

Several party leaders and lawmakers — including Fawad Chaudhry, Shireen Mazari, Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan among others — have publicly denounced the attacks on the state installations and announced leaving the former ruling party since the May 9 vandalism.

Politics

Imran Khan’s ‘rights abuses allegations’ ploy to distract from May 9 riots: PM Shehbaz

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

PM says PTI chief “capable of going to any extreme”.
Says he is “not surprised” by Imran Khan’s “antics”.
“Everything about Imran Khan is hate, division and lie.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif slammed his predecessor Imran Khan for “misleading and baseless allegations” of “rights abuses”, saying that it was a ploy to distract attention from his involvement in May 9 events.

“Make no mistake about the evil intent behind Imran Niazi’s latest ploy to defame our law enforcement agencies and police. Yet again he is making misleading and baseless allegations of the “rights abuses” just to distract attention for his culpability in the tragic events of May 9,” the premier wrote on his official Twitter handle.

PM Shehbaz, who is also the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), also said that he was “not surprised” by the former prime minister’s “antics”.

Imran Khans rights abuses allegations ploy to distract from May 9 riots: PM Shehbaz

He added that the PTI chief was “capable of going to any extreme” as he “persistently” uses “foul language against the state institutions, incite[s] people to violence and attack[s] the state symbols and military installations & bring[s] down martyrs’ monuments”.

The prime minister went on to write on the tweet: “He [Khan] presides over a disinformation apparatus that deploys fake news methodically to fool the people. Everything about him is hate, division and lie.”

A crackdown has been launched against PTI following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan from the Islamabad High Court’s premises.

Khan’s arrest last month sparked days of street protests after which the PTI leaders’ exodus started, as security forces launched a crackdown against the party following the attacks on civil and military institutions, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and the Lahore Corps Commander’s House (Jinnah House). At least eight people were killed in the violent protests almost across the country.

Amid these arrests, an exchange of accusations began between the Imran Khan-led PTI and the federal government involving alleged “ill-treatment” of the party’s women workers and supporters during the custody.

The government has maintained that the PTI’s claims are unfounded.

Last week, in a late-night press conference, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the PTI planned to highlight human rights violations in Pakistan on a global scale after orchestrating a simulated raid at a certain known party worker, involving a rape and casualties caused by gunfire.

The security czar said that intelligence agencies intercepted an audio clip that sheds light on a conspiracy hatched by the PTI to malign the country’s law-enforcement agencies.

Reacting to his presser, Imran Khan on Sunday said Sanaullah is “so obviously trying to cover up and preempt the horror stories about to break in the media.”

“If there were any doubts about women being mistreated in jails, this press conference from this certified criminal should remove all such doubts,” he wrote on Twitter.

Politics

PTI President Parvez Elahi arrested in Lahore

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Former Punjab CM was arrested by anti-corruption personnel.
He was wanted in Rs70m corruption case related to uplift funds.
Elahi’s son says his father was taken into custody in a fake case.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi was arrested by anti-corruption officials from Lahore outside his home, Geo News reportedon Thursday.

The former Punjab chief minister was taken into custody by the anti-corruption personnel after pulling over his car near Zahoor Elahi’s residence in Lahore’s Gulberg area.

Elahi’s spokesperson has confirmed the development.

The development came after an anti-corruption court last week discarded his interim bail over his failure to appear before the court citing health issues.

His arrest was required in the Rs70 million corruption case related to the embezzlement of development funds allocated for the Gujrat district.

The anti-corruption court judge also declared Elahi’s medical certificate bogus which claimed that he had been experiencing chest pain.

The anti-corruption spokesperson in a statement said Elahi was taken into custody while trying to flee and added that he was wanted in various corruption cases.

The spokesperson also said that Elahi was arrested as his bail was discarded by the court for submitting a fake medical certificate.

In a statement to the police, Elahi’s driver said the PTI leader was fleeing to Gilgit Baltistan along with a convoy of four vehicles.

He said Elahi was not travelling in a bulletproof vehicle and added that police tried to break the car’s window after the PTI president refused to open the gate.

Speaking to Geo News, Punjab caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir said Elahi was wanted by the anti-corruption police in a graft case.

He said the PTI president was fleeing from his residence when the police intercepted his vehicle and took him into custody.

The minister added that resistance was put up during the arrest but the police managed to arrest him.

The PTI leader’s spokesperson said Elahi’s son Rasikh and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s sister were also present with him during the arrest.

Elahi’s arrest came as hundreds of PTI leaders and workers have been arrested since May 9 violent protests erupted almost across the country.

The crackdown on PTI leadership in the wake of the May 9 riots triggered a wave of desertion in the former ruling party with many bigwigs including Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Aami Mehmood Kiani, Ali Zaidi and others have parted ways with the party in protest against the violent protests.

Elahi was appointed as the PTI president in March this year only a month after he along with 10 former MPAs left the PML-Q to join the PTI.

Moonis Elahi, the PTI president’s son — who is active in politics and played a key role in convincing his father to join the PTI ranks — said his father was arrested in a fake case.

Moonis said his father and mother had already asked them to support the PTI even if they were arrested.