Islamabad march will be decisive moment of 20-year political struggle: Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday said the Islamabad march on 30th October will be the decisive moment of his twenty years political struggle

Imran, while speaking to ARY News program Powerplay hosted by Arshad Sharif, said that government is confused and is is mulling whether to allow or stop the marchers to Islamabad on 30th October.

He revealed that the siege of the federal capital will continue until they receive a favourable result. “This will be a dharna (sit-in) plus,” he said but refused to share further details.

He said that people are compelled to come out as the state institutions which are responsible for checks and balances in a democracy have failed miserably. He said that this was responsibility of the institutions which have immensely disappointed him.

“There is status quo which wants to benefit from the corrupt system,” he said. However, the job of the opposition is to highlight government inefficiencies. He said that all opposition parties had agreed to election rigging but took no action in parliament, and still issued of more importance like accountability and improving electoral system are not solved.

He dispelled apprehension that this would derail democracy, and said that Nawaz Sharif had ruined institutions which are now worse than the dictatorship of Pervez Musharraf.

The  government has weakened institutions including the judiciary which is also revealed in independent reports by the World Economic Forum. Apart from that the debt burden has grown exponentially which has crippled the economy of the nation.

He said that there are two options only that either the Prime Minister resigns which is the hallmark of a democratic society, or to present himself for accountability. However, he said that the government has either done either but is instead resorting to blaming them.

He went to say that the march will challenge the state institutions which have failed to work. He said that the Supreme Court should have taken suo motu notice, and pursued the Panama Papers scandal case just like the the Swiss banks case against Asif Ali Zardari.

He also criticised Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto for his lack of political experience, and said that Zardari was preparing him for further corruption. He said that institutions only flourish over meritocracy which  comes from a democratic society.

“Do not put me in the Uncle group,” he warned Bilawal. He said that Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman was a very sharp-witted person, and they should not be termed together. He said that Nawaz Sharif and Zardari have colluded to weaken the institutions just to protect themselves.

Imran Khan is also expected to announce a whirlwind nationwide tour after 10th Muharram to muster support for the Islamabad March. The details of the cities he is expected to visit will be announced soon.

Meanwhile, PTI leaders Jehangir Khan Tareen and former Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar are currently in London, where they are expected to meet Pakistan Awami Tehreek leader Tahir-ul-Qadri.

Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed is in also in London, where it is expected a course of action is being planned over the Islamabad march.