Asad Umar asks govt to hold elections ‘if it believes in democracy’

FAISALABAD: Former federal minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secretary-general Asad Umar has asked the government to hold elections if it believes in democracy, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists in Faisalabad, Asad Umar said that the government was afraid and was not conducting elections in fear of losing to PTI.

“The government is extremely afraid of its own nation,” the PTI leader said, adding that if the government believes in democracy, it should hold general elections.

He also criticised Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, asking: “How many press conferences do they organise after deploying police from all the provinces?”

Asad Umar said that Rana Sanaullah has proven to be an unsuccessful interior minister.” He challenged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to be brave enough to stand amid the masses.

“He cannot stand with the public even for a minute. Shehbaz Sharif should think where he will go once the government ends,” he said, adding that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will end if elections take place.

The former federal minister also criticised the government for registering ‘fake’ cases against journalists, saying that the ruling coalition was afraid of the truth.

Speaking of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said that the project was developing under the tenure of Imran Khan-led government. “Industries were developed under the CPEC project, which directly benefitted Pakistan,” he added.

Referring to the long march, he said that the preparation targets have been completed across Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) resumed its long march journey towards Islamabad from Gujranwala as the party’s protest march entered the fifth day. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf halted the fourth day’s activities in Chand Da Qila, Gujranwala on Monday.

Addressing the participants, Imran Khan turned his guns towards Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, saying that the latter was ‘hurling threats’ at the party leadership.

The former premier said that Rana Sanaullah was hurling threats while sitting in Islamabad, maintaining that he would not bow down to anyone except Allah Almighty.

Criticising the interior minister’s move to deploy Sindh police personnel, Imran Khan claimed that Rana Sanaullah has gathered over 30,000 personnel and had spent almost Rs410 million of people’s money on security.

“Rana Sanaullah, the police you have deployed will also join the Haqeeqi Azadi March”, he said, adding that the security personnel will also join the movement because they were too against thieves. He added that the PML-N leader’s time has come now.