PTI \u201csacrificed\u201d two assemblies for polls, Khan says | PTI chief claims general elections will take place in April
\n Islamabad
\nPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Wednesday that his party currently had no contact with the new military leadership.
\nThe deposed prime minister, speaking during an interview with BBC Urdu, denies links with army chief General Syed Asim Munir and claimed that the general elections will take place in April 2023.
\nBlaming former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa for \u201chelping the government in ruling the country\u201d, the PTI chief predicted that the government will now be \u201cforced to hold general elections this April\u201d.
\n\u201cWhen they came into power, they ended their corruption cases worth Rs1,100 billion,\u201d he said.
\nCensuring the incumbent government for the economic crisis in the country, the former premier said that Pakistan\u2019s economic conditions were never like this, emphasising that fair and transparent polls are the only solution to these problems.
\n\u201cThe current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has come into power through horse-trading,\u201d claimed the PTI chief.
\nThe PTI chief added that the coalition rulers have kept themselves above the law and ended the corruption cases that they were booked in years back. \u201cShehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari, and Maryam Nawaz \u2014 all of their cases have been forgiven.\u201d
\nHe said that in a bid to move towards free and fair elections, his party \u201csacrificed\u201d two assemblies \u2014 Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Punjab. \u201cNow this government will be forced into holding elections in April.\u201d
\n\u2018Sri Lanka-like situation\u2019
\nExplaining the reason behind the ongoing economic crisis, the ex-PM said that no investor or businessperson trusts the incumbent government and neither do foreign investors.
\n\u201cPakistan has been plunged into a quagmire. To save the country from a Sri Lanka-like situation, we need free and fair elections,\u201d the PTI chairman said.
\nKhan said he feared another economic crisis was in the offing as the foreign exchange reserves had depleted to $4 billion and commodities of the same value were stuck at the ports because of the shortage of dollars.
\n\u201cThe prices of commodities are rising, unemployment is increasing, and industries are shutting down,\u201d the PTI chief said.
\nPakistan\u2019s economy has crumbled alongside a simmering political crisis, with the rupee plummeting and inflation at decades-high levels, while devastating floods and a major shortage of energy have piled on further pressure.
\nThe South Asian nation\u2019s enormous national debt \u2014 currently $274 billion, or nearly 90% of gross domestic product \u2014 and the endless effort to service it makes Pakistan particularly vulnerable to economic shocks.
\nEstablishment\u2019s role in Punjab
\nShedding light on the political situation in Punjab, the former prime minister said that the establishment tried to make Parvez Elahi the chief minister with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz\u2019s (PML-N) backing.
\n\u201cElahi was loyal to us, we had to return the favour and now they will be merged in PTI and become a part of us,\u201d the former premier said.
\nHe further added that \u201csomeone should ask them why had they brought down our government through a foreign conspiracy?\u201d
\nKhan went on to say that the economy under our government was performing very well in 17 years. What were we doing wrong that our government was brought down?\u201d
\nThe former premier maintained that after ousting PTI from power, now they are unable to maintain the economy, adding that \u201cGen Bajwa was told that if this conspiracy becomes successful then the economy could not be sustained.\u201d
\nThey could not maintain the economic condition and the market immediately lost confidence in the incumbents, the former premier added.
\nAfter assuming power, they realised that they did not have any road map for ameliorating the economic conditions of Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PTI \u201csacrificed\u201d two assemblies for polls, Khan says | PTI chief claims general elections will take place in April Islamabad Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Wednesday that his party currently had no contact with the new military leadership. The deposed prime minister, speaking during an interview with BBC Urdu, denies links with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2833],"class_list":{"0":"post-308258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-imran-khan"},"yoast_head":"\n