Rana Sanaullah urges Imran Khan to become a 'politician' before demanding elections

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Monday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan should first become a politician and learn to sit with politicians if he wants elections, ARY News reported.

“I had said on November 26 and I am saying it again that you won’t get the election date from Pindi”, the interior minister said while speaking to a private news channel,

The interior minister also hinted at holding talks with Imran Khan on elections date. “If Imran Khan wants to hold talks with the government, then he should come straight to the point,” he said.

Rana Sanaullah further said he had told the PTI Chairman on November 26 that he would not get the election date from Rawalpindi. “I had also said earlier that Imran Khan should contact politicians for elections,” he added.

He maintained that if Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dissolves the provincial assemblies, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and its allies were ready to contest the elections.

The minister also challenged Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi to dissolve the provincial assembly as the PML-N and its allies were ready to contest the elections. “The political damage that we have already sustained ends here, no more,” he added.

Rana Sanaullah also slammed CM Perviaz Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi for telling “lies” that former chief of army staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had advised them to join hands with the PTI.

“When Pervez Elahi came to an understanding with us, why did he need to talk to former COAS Bajwa? he asked.

A day earlier, Imran Khan invited the ruling coalition to hold talks over date of general elections, noting that his party would only wait till March.

Speaking to a private news channel, the former premier said that if the incumbent government is ready to hold elections by the end of March, he would not dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.

However, he said, his party won’t agree on a date after March and assemblies will be dissolved this month [December] if the government disagrees.

“We are ready to hold negotiations over date of general elections,” the former prime minister said, citing the devastating economic situation as the reason behind PTI’s constant demand.