Former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan expressed “fear” over discussions of bringing in a technocrat government in the country, saying he did not see fresh elections happening “anytime soon”. Khan noted that “people pulling the strings behind the scenes”, rather than the government, needed to agree to hold the polls.
The PTI chief’s remarks came after former FBR chairman Shabbar Zaidi in an interview with a private news channel on Tuesday maintained that talks were underway regarding the installation of a “caretaker government” – comprising experts rather than public representatives – which could replace the existing PDM coalition setup given the current economic turmoil.
The recent statement by Imran Khan seems to be a “U-turn” from his current stance wherein he maintained that he saw elections being held in March and April next year, and also directed his party to prepare for electioneering across the country.
Talking to a delegation of newly-elected officer-bearers of the Lahore Press Club, the PTI chairman said that for elections to happen, people pulling the strings behind the scene needed to agree to hold the polls.
“The results will not be good if some sort of political engineering is done during the elections,” he warned, adding that the mandate of the largest party in former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was not recognised in 1970, leading to catastrophic outcomes.
The former premier said that he was not in contact with the establishment at the moment, and castigated the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for becoming a “drawing room party”.
Khan again criticized former army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa and held the latter responsible for the ongoing crises in the country.
