Entire government machinery busy saving Nawaz: Imran Khan
October 23, 2017
SEHWAN: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan lamented on Monday that the entire government machinery is busy saving ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Speaking to reporters in Sehwan, where he held a rally a day earlier, the PTI chief said, "it is a sad state of affairs when the elected prime minister (Shahid Khaqan Abbasi) considers Nawaz the real premier".
Answering a question about the party's call for early elections, he said this not a personal demand of the PTI but "a need of the hour". Imran said the people will not accept any NRO this time around. "We will take out the entire country to the streets otherwise," he said, adding that they want the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case started fortwith.
Earlier, the PTI chief regretted being denied entry to the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan yesterday. He said the administration made scores of "lame excuses", saying we had armed guards with us but "footage shows that that is not true".
He also thanked PTI's local leader, Sardar Rind, for the successful rally.
Talking about the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which rules Sindh, Imran said, "God willing the PPP will be defeated in Sindh for the first time in the next general elections".
Standing alongside PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, Imran said the heads of institutions such as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Federal Board of Revenue are appointed by the ruling party. "There’s a difference between them and the Supreme Court, which is an independent institution," he added.
The PTI chief claimed further that criticising the ECP is his democratic right. He also criticised the issuance of his warrants by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) over a "peaceful protest".
Imran is facing arrest warrants from the ECP for criticising it and also for the ATC case into the destruction of state property and assault on a senior police officer during the 2014 protest sit-in of the party.
In response to a question, he said the future of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement lies in its complete disassociation from the party’s London-based founder.
