Imran Khan says ‘ready’ to talk to establishment

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that he is “ready” to talk to the establishment.
In an interview with BBC Urdu, Imran said that all he wants is to hold elections in the country and for that, he is “ready to talk to anyone” and does not need crutches.
“I was asked if I would talk to the establishment should they want to talk. I said that I am a politician and will talk to everyone… except thieves,” said Imran.
Further, the former prime minister clarified that he has not invited Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir or Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to talk.
He said, “There have been rumours that I want to talk to the army chief but I don’t need the establishment. A party with which the people of the country are with does not need crutches.”
When asked if the change in military leadership made any difference to him in the attitude of the establishment towards his party, he said, “it didn’t make any difference to us.”
“Cases were made against us during the tenure of General Bajwa. Never before has there been so much custodial violence against seniors. We thought this would change when the new chief comes, but difficulties have only increased,” Imran said.
He furthered that the Supreme Court has ordered elections to be held in 90 days and the president has announced the same. However, when the PTI held an election rally, there was a police crackdown, vehicles were broken, a water cannon was used and people were arrested.
The deposed premier said that the job of the caretaker government is to conduct elections. “How can elections be held without election campaigns and rallies?” he questioned.
On Wednesday, dozens of PTI supporters were arrested and injured while one was killed in a police crackdown on an election rally around Zaman Park in Lahore.
The police had used baton charge, shelling and a water cannon to disperse the rally while the PTI workers also pelted the police with stones. In this clash, several policemen were also injured
The PTI chief said that this type of violence is a tactic “to run away from the election” and urged party workers not be a part of any chaos “so that the government does not get a chance to run away from the election”.
“If we wanted, the fight would have continued till night, but we do not want to give them a chance to get out of the elections by creating chaos,” he said.
Imran said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has given the election dates on the order of the Supreme Court, but “it seems that the government does not want to hold the election”.
“All kinds of excuses are still being given as to why elections should not be held. I am afraid that they will kill a big personality like Benazir Bhutto. They are trying to somehow get out of the election,” he said.
When asked what would happen if the election does not take place, Imran asserted that this would be contempt of court as it would be a violation of the constitution and Supreme Court orders. “If elections aren’t held, the constitution and law will be destroyed,” he said.
He furthered that the government “wants me to be disqualified or go to jail so that it can win this election”.
Imran said that he had won the 2018 election because the nation had turned against the government parties. “Given the current inflation, these parties have been completely buried,” he said.
He said that “common sense says that all the elections should not be held together. This will also be better for the country. Let the people choose who they want. The government that will come will solve the country’s problems”.
Regarding Pervaiz Elahi’s appointment as PTI president, Imran said that he is the vice-chairman and number two leader of the party. “Pervaiz Elahi bore the pressure of the establishment and stayed with us in difficult times, so the position was given to him,” he said.