Imran says he knows conspirators well

MARDAN: Reiterating his demand to hold fresh elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Friday said he knew very well those who had conspired against his government.

"I know the conspirators as their names have been imprinted on my heart. I had asked the so-called neutrals through then finance minister Shaukat Tarin to realise the gravity of the situation as the economy had been stabilised. But our government was ousted and now the country is facing the worst economic situation," he told a rally in Mardan.

The former prime minister asked the people to join the independence march to pave the way for real independence. "Schedule for the fresh elections must be announced before the tsunami of the march submerges everything," he maintained.

"We will not accept any superpower and follow an independent policy to promote our own interests," he said, while blasting former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari for toeing the US line.

"These thieves, Nawaz, Zardari and others, have offshore accounts and they can't make an independent foreign policy," he said.

He poured scorn on Nawaz Sharif for holding a meeting of party leaders in London. "Now an absconding and thief leader like Nawaz Sharif is taking decisions on how to run the country,” he said. Imran Khan recalled when the PTI came into power, the economy was in disarray, there was no amount to retire the debt and the country was on the verge of being declared as defaulter.

“We managed to take immediate loans from the friendly countries and put the economy back on track,” he said, adding the country was facing economic problems due to the loot and plunder by these leaders.

He said the 'neutrals' should tell the nation who was responsible for the prevailing economic chaos in the country. The ousted prime minister asked the government employees, including policemen and soldiers, to realise that real independence is a must for the development of the country.

"We are not the slaves of the US. We will follow our own independent policies. We will not accept any diktat from abroad," he went on to add. Imran Khan asked the Supreme Court chief justice to form a judicial commission to probe the Lettergate.

“An open hearing should be held, so that people must know what’s going on in the country,” he said. The former prime minister also demanded removal of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). “We will not accept an election under the incumbent CEC as he has become controversial,” he added.

He told the rally participants that there were three reasons for calling them to Islamabad; one is that we will never accept the slavery of any superpower and we are independent; the second is that we will fight against the biggest thieves and robbers of Pakistan who have been imposed on us and third is to save the morality of our country.

Imran Khan thanked the people of Mardan for arranging such a large rally. It was his second public appearance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after losing his government as a result of the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

PTI ministers, senators, members of the national and the provincial assembly attended the rally. A large number of party workers participated from different parts of the province. The public rally venue and Mardan city were decorated with PTI flags and big portraits of Imran Khan and other party leaders were displayed.

The party workers began arriving at the venue after the Friday prayers. Imran Khan reached the rally venue at 7:30pm. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan on Friday again said that by hurling threats, the ECP judgments cannot be influenced.

An ECP spokesperson issued a statement, saying: "The Election Commission of Pakistan gives all its judgments in the light of the Constitution and the law and will continue to do so. No one can influence its judgments by hurling threats at it."

The electoral body is continuously accused by the PTI leadership, particularly its Chairman Imran Khan, of being incompetent and biased. Severe allegations have been leveled against the chief election commissioner, who has been asked several times to step down.