Imran demands immediate fresh elections, new mandate for PM Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan on Sunday called on Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to seek a new mandate and immediately call for fresh elections.

Addressing media at his residence, the PTI chairman said it was bizarre that the Abbasi said that he still considers Nawaz Sharif as his prime minister, which implies that he does not respect the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Furthermore, he deplored that a bill was pass to bring back a disqualified person to head a political party. “These kind of bills are not passed in a democracy, they are being scoffed at,” he said.

He said that Abbasi is being embroiled in the LNG and should take the parliament into confidence over the allegations as demanded by Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Furthermore, he said there have been accusations by Chinese authorities of corruption in the Multan metro bus project.

Therefore, Imran Khan called for PM Abbasi to seek a new mandate and immediately called for fresh elections in the country. “The prime minister should immediately announce fresh elections and seek a new mandate from the public,” he said.

He also expressed fear that confidence might be restored in Nawaz Sharif through Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. “A disqualified man cannot head a party in a democracy,” he said.

When asked over the return of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, he said that the National Accountability Chairman should immediately seek to place his and Nawaz Sharif’s name on the Exit Control List.

He also said that Khursheed Shah should no longer to the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly. “The Godfather to control institutions makes everyone join them,” he said adding that Shah colluded to bring their favourite as NAB chairman rather than conduct accountability.

He said called for FATA to be merged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa calling it ‘no-mans land’ which should be integrated with the rest of the province, and questioned why a consensus is not being formed over the issue.

He said that Abbasi is a weak prime minister who narrated the same stance as foreign minister Khawaja Asif in his interview with US media and instead disgraced Pakistan in the international community. He said the fate of the foreign minister will be the same as Nawaz Sharif.

He questioned his absence when US President Donald Trump blame Pakistan for their failure in Afghanistan. “Where where they when Trump blamed US failures in Afghanistan on Pakistan,” he asked and whether their defeat was due to those who went from Pakistan.