Imran demands fresh elections, asks PM Abbasi to acquire new mandate

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has demanded that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to seek a fresh mandate by holding early elections.

Addressing press conference in federal capital Sunday, the PTI chairman said it was bizarre that PM Abbasi said that he still considers Nawaz Sharif as his prime minister, which implies that he does not respect the Supreme Court’s verdict.

“This is necessary for a democracy,” the PTI leader said and added: “In order to save and strengthen the democracy, you [PM Abbasi] should move towards elections. Seek the people’s mandate.”

He said that PM 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.

The PTI chief branded the approval of a bill recently that paved way for Nawaz Sharif to lead Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz anti-democracy. He deplored that a bill was passed 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 questioned why the government had not ‘brought its house in order’ four years ago under the National Action Plan. 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.

The PTI chief said that the prime minister was making “irresponsible statements” at a time when Pakistan was facing immense pressure from India and America in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s South Asian policy announcement, during which he lambasted Pakistan for offering safe havens to “agents of chaos”.

He said that Washington’s South Asian policy had humiliated Pakistan on the international platform and “there was nobody to speak for the country.” He added that Trump’s statement placed the blame for America’s failed policy in Afghanistan on Pakistan.

“Where was our foreign minister when this policy was being developed?” Khan asked, adding that at that time the ruling party was pre-occupied with the verdict of the Panama Papers case. He said that the ruling party was embarrassing Pakistan abroad.

“Keeping in view the country’s internal and external challenges, I demand that the prime minister, on an urgent basis, hold elections and seek a fresh mandate,” Khan stressed. He questioned his absence when US President Donald Trump blame Pakistan for their failure in Afghanistan.

“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. Khan said that the incumbent government acquired the biggest loans in the present times and that Nawaz Sharif and finance minister Ishaq Dar worked for the development of Pakistan only in advertisements.

He claimed that exports are falling, industries are shutting and farmers are suffering the brunt. Pakistan is deprived of foreign investment at the time, he asserted. Khan said that, under the current tax scheme, the “poor are subsiding the rich”.