Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, recently revealed that he dissolved the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on the advice of former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Khan disclosed this information during an interview with a private news channel on Sunday.
According to Khan, during a meeting with General Bajwa and President Dr Arif Alvi, the former army chief suggested that if Khan sought elections, he should first dissolve his governments in the two provinces. Khan followed this advice and dissolved the assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively.
Khan also accused General Bajwa of having no ideology and telling him lies. The deposed premier claimed that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief had told him that Bajwa wanted to bring Shehbaz Sharif into power. Khan also revealed that a leader from the Middle East had told him a year ago that Bajwa was not with him any longer.
Khan criticized General Bajwa for being willing to give National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to the current rulers despite knowing that they had stolen money from the national kitty and taken it abroad. Khan argued that someone with an ideology could not convince themselves to give NRO to such people.
During the interview, Khan suggested that elections be held in July if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolves the National Assembly. He also demanded that the caretaker governments in both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa be abolished and a new “neutral” interim setup be instated.
Khan claimed that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had given May 14 as the date for Punjab polls and that his party would not let the government go beyond that. However, the government has insisted on conducting elections to the national and provincial assemblies together in October, citing security concerns and a lack of funds.
He accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of working in connivance with the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and claimed that Maryam Nawaz, a senior vice-president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was receiving protocol. He directed his criticism towards the electoral body and called for negotiations with the ruling alliance in Islamabad.
Khan gave the mandate of negotiations to his party’s Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, not to Asad Qaisar, the former speaker of the National Assembly. He criticized the government for using negotiations to further delay the polls and claimed that his long march took place because the government was not serious about talks with his party.
In conclusion, Imran Khan’s revelations about General Bajwa’s advice to dissolve the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shed light on the political situation in Pakistan. His call for snap polls and criticism of the caretaker governments and electoral body suggest that he remains a force to be reckoned with in Pakistani politics.
