Exclusive: Imran Khan says 'regime change to be reversed after fair elections'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan said Friday that the regime change will be reversed after the organisation of free and fair elections in the country, ARY News reported.

Imran Khan gave an exclusive interview to ARY News today in which he expressed his thoughts about the crucial political developments in the country.

Imran Khan said that everything has been disturbed in the country due to political instability. He said that the PTI government had been toppled by an alleged conspiracy at the time of the global crisis which created political instability which later caused economic instability.

READ: IMRAN KHAN WANTS IMMEDIATE RESTORATION OF PTI’S WELFARE PROJECTS

He criticised that the country was witnessing economic growth and every sector was entering the stability phase when the PTI government was removed.

“Rulers are afraid of fresh elections. When a conspiracy was hatched and the no-trust motion was brought then I had announced fresh elections to let the people of Pakistan decide who should rule the country.”

“We could have saved ourselves from disasters if fresh elections were held at that time. The current rulers came into power without a roadmap to end the crisis. If you see the statements of [finance minister] Miftah Ismail, they did not give any policy.”

“This solution of the national issues is not only the organisation of just elections but free and fair elections. No one has confidence in the incumbent government including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”

READ: IMRAN KHAN SAYS ‘PAKISTANIS BECOMING A NATION FOR FIRST TIME’

“We have witnessed in the Punjab by-polls that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was used and nobody was expecting the defeat of the ruling class and they were defeated despite vote-rigging.”

“Pakistani nation has rejected the regime change. The regime change will be reversed after the organisation of fair elections in Pakistan.”

He said that the current rulers were afraid of the Pakistani nation that has changed, therefore, they were skipping the option of fresh polls. He added that Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz had also asked to hold new elections instead of keeping the helpless government.

Khan said that he was not expecting the change in the Pakistani nation within just 3.5 months after the ouster of the PTI government as they bravely resisted the current rulers who came into power through a ‘conspiracy’.

He praised the Pakistani nation and said that they have come out of their homes for getting their rights.

The former prime minister said that the decisions behind closed doors were taken without any consultation but to achieve an agenda. He questioned the names of responsible persons who brought the economic disaster to the country.

He warned of another wave of inflation as the nation will face more effects of the policies adopted by the incumbent government.

The PTI chief said that he opposed the United States (US) for two reasons; the US-led war is not in the interests of Pakistan and there was no military solution of Afghanistan. He clarified that Pakistan should maintain friendly ties with all countries but it should not be part of anyone’s war.

He called for the supremacy of justice and law in the country. Khan said that the country will not make progress until the weak segment gets legal protection. “I have no personal enmity with the two ruling families of Pakistan. I have good ties with Benazir Bhutto late and Nawaz Sharif but these two families joined the politics and started making money illegally.”

“The country will be destroyed if influential people get NRO.”

The PTI chairman said that he has always wanted to see a powerful military for the defence of Pakistan. “I am telling this from the first day that we have to make armed forces a strong institution.”

“I have struggled to eliminate corruption and those who earned money from politics. The powerful people have the responsibility to stop the conspiracy against the country.”

Imran Khan criticised that it was not an army chief’s responsibility to contact the US for an IMF deal and who will guarantee that the US will not demand anything in return.

Regarding the Financial Times article, the PTI chief said that he knew Arif Naqvi for 20-25 years who was working for Pakistan and heavily funded Shaukat Khanum Hospital.

He detailed that Naqvi organised two fundraising events for PTI in 2012 which is still a common practice for funding raising across the globe. “We have 40,000 databases of donors who funded PTI.”

He said that Naqvi gave employment to Pakistanis across the globe.

“I have been raising funding for 30 years and every year, Rs9 billion funds were collected for Shaukat Khanum Hospital. For the first time, I have raised funds for political purposes.” He added that Arif Naqvi collected Rs2.1 million funds through the bank channel.

Khan questioned why everyone was silent over FT’s story which mentioned the bribe to Sharif brothers. An FT story exposed $200 million bribe to the Sharif brothers, he added.

He reiterated his demand of giving verdicts on funding cases against all three political parties at the same time. He also demanded immediate organisation of elections in the country.