Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has announced the ‘Jail Bharo’ movement from Wednesday, starting from Lahore.
In his televised address on Friday , Khan said that they dissolved the assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as per the knowledge that the country’s “Constitution clarifies” that the elections should be held within 90 days of the dissolution of any assembly.
“The caretaker government and the interim chief ministers would be illegal on the 91st day,” said the PTI chairman.
Firing fresh broadside at the CEC Raja, Khan said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is showing helplessness and making excuses about conducting elections.
The deposed premier’s address comes hours after President Dr Arif Alvi summoned Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for an urgent meeting on February 20 (Monday) regarding the announcement of the date for fresh general elections.
He explained that they have completed their preparations and will start their movement from Lahore before expanding it to other major cities of the country and fill the jails of the country to the maximum.
“We are launching the movement for the public to overcome their fear of going to jail,” he said.
Earlier, he all but admitted that they willfully violated terms agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for their extended fund program, stating that it was their plan to return loans when the country’s financial position would allow it.
He reiterated his lament against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and its reluctance to announce date for elections in Punjab Assembly within 90 days of dissolving it.
“They have been coming up with one excuse after the other that they do not have funds, there is a law and order issue, state institutions are not complying despite orders from the court,” he said, adding that if elections are not held within 90 days, it would create a constitutional crisis.
“If the judiciary can’t get the Constitution implemented, it shows that rule of law has come to an end If the judiciary can’t get the Constitution implemented, it shows that rule of law has come to an end,” he said.
He also used a new term to describe the government, calling them ‘those who came into power through auction, not election’.
“Those who are elected have the public mandate to run the country, those who come through auction (by horse-trading) don’t have the mandate of the public,” he said.
Imran noted that ever since the “imported government” took over, it has raised prices of almost every item including electricity and gas.
We were also under the IMF for two and a half years, but we would would return our loans once our income increases, he said.
“They [incumbent government] agreed to everything that the IMF was asking for,” he said, adding, now our incomes have shrunk so we don’t have any money to repay our loans.
If any investor looks at investing in Pakistan, they would look at would their investment be safe? Would the courts be able to enforce decisions, he added.
Imran claimed that people who kept their dollars in Pakistani banks are unable to get access to them. This violates the social contract.
“Now who will invest in Pakistan. Overseas Pakistanis who put money in Pakistan are withdrawing them.”
He went on to claim that the government was unwilling to hold elections within the Constitutionally stipulated time period of 90-days.
They want to delay the polls to such an extent that they will allow us any time to campaign.
This is what they did in the second phase of the local government polls in Sindh where we got so little time to campaign resulting in low turnout and it allowed them space to engineer the elections.
“Do any polls or survey, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has no vote bank in Karachi,” he said.
He claimed that the caretaker chief minister of Punjab was a close associate of Asif Ali Zardari and has been targeting them.
“When the courts ask me why am I not appearing before them, he said that when he was attacked in November, he knew for two months that an attack was being planned and that he had cried hoarse about it but no one listened to me,” he said.
Imran pointed to the recent audio leaks of former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, he said that in 1996, the Benazir Bhutto government had taped opponents.
He noted that in other countries, politicians lost their governments over such actions.
“Even I have been told that my phones were taped and have been warned that they could be released,” he claimed.
At no point in history has witnessed such naked use of state power against political opponents. It started with Shahbaz Gill, continued with Azam Swati
He claimed that the caretaker chief minister of Punjab was a close associate of Asif Ali Zardari and has been targeting them.
Imran said,“On February 13, there was an incident earlier in the evening where during submitting of nomination papers, there was an altercation between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers.”
PTI supremo said nothing happens with the PML-N workers but 20 PTI workers are arrested and harassed throughout the night.
Former premier said we gave a list of 25 police officers who abused their powers to use violence against us. Of those, 16 have been reappointed in Punjab.
