Former PM says ‘he no longer holds US responsible for his govt ouster’ claiming it was the former army chief who ‘manipulated’ against him n Claims he was made ‘punching bag’ and was on receiving end of criticism for his govt as ex-army chief was calling the shots
n Stresses elected govts must have authority as well as responsibility n Says holding free and fair elections is not possible anymore.

 

LAHORE    -    PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan has made a major shift in his month-long narrative of ‘regime change con­spiracy’ saying that he no lon­ger holds United States to have planned to topple his govern­ment in April last.

“Whatever happened, now as things unfold, it wasn’t the US who told Pakistan [to oust me]. It was unfortunately, from what evidence has come up, [former COAS] Gen Bajwa who somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American. And so, it [the plan to oust me] was not imported from there. It was ex­ported from here to there,” Im­ran claimed this in an interview to Voice of America yesterday.

The former PM has been claiming that his government was ousted due to a conspira­cy hatched by the US adminis­tration and installed the present rulers of its choice.

In response to another ques­tion, Imran maintained that for­mer army chief Gen Bajwa “had a very close relationship with She­hbaz Sharif, the current prime minister. And, for some reason, he conspired, and this regime change took place.”

The PTI chief claimed he was made the “punching bag” and was on the receiving end of crit­icism for his government’s per­formance despite the fact that the ex-army chief was the “super king” behind all decisions.

He also said that the new mil­itary leadership had realised that the “experiment of regime change has failed”.

“I’m sure amongst the new military leadership there is a re­alisation that this experiment of regime change has gone wrong,” he asserted. He stressed that the elected governments must have authority as well as responsibil­ity and a country’s “system fails if it is not the case”.

“The leading principle of the balance [of power] is that the elected government that has the responsibility, which people have mandated through their vote, must also have the author­ity,” Khan added.

Responsibility and authori­ty, he said, cannot be separat­ed and hence a system cannot work if the “two things are not vested in the same individual”.

“If the authority lies with the army chief, [but] responsibility lies with the prime minister, no management system works,” he maintained.

While responding to a ques­tion regarding his relationship with the military as the premier, the PTI chief said that all the policies of the military in Paki­stan depend on one individual.

“Military [in Pakistan] means one man, the army chief. So, the whole policy of military vis-a-vis their dealing with the civil­ian government depends on the personality of one man.”

He again claimed that the for­mer army chief wanted his gov­ernment to turn a blind eye to the “biggest problem” and work in cooperation with the corrupt leaders, “giving them immunity from their corruption cases”.

Khan further stated that the former COAS had close ties with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and they “conspired”, and as a result the “regime change took place”. According to the ousted premier, Paki­stan’s economy has gone into a tailspin and the country is fac­ing the worst political and eco­nomic crisis in history.

Sharing his views on his de­mand for general elections, the PTI chief said that staging “free and fair elections is not possi­ble anymore” as the credibili­ty of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as an impar­tial electoral body had been de­stroyed.

“There was a local govern­ment election in Sindh that all the political parties rejected.” 

While talking about Pakistan’s bilateral ties, Imran Khan said that having a good relationship with Afghanistan, regardless of any government in the neigh­bouring country, “is inevitable for Pakistan”.

“Whatever government is in Afghanistan, Pakistan must have a good relationship with them,” he said, adding that as the prime minister of Pakistan, he tried his best to keep up with the Ashraf Ghani-led govern­ment on good terms in order to get Kabul’s help in dealing with terrorism.

It was disturbing that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had spent almost all his time out of Pakistan, but hadn’t paid a single visit to Afghanistan, he said in response to a question about the incumbent govern­ment’s failure in getting assis­tance from Afghanistan against rising terrorism in the country.

Pakistan is “not in a position to have another war on terror”, he added. Later, addressing his party supporters via video link from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore yesterday, Imran blamed security forces for ris­ing terrorism in the country and asked why agencies have failed to control this menace.

He once again lashed out at former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, claiming the latter was calling the shots while he was at receiving end of all criticism as the prime min­ister. “He was a super king. He was above everyone. He was controlling NAB and no one could be held accountable with­out Bajwa’s nod,” he said.

Holding the ex-army chief re­sponsible for economic and po­litical crisis, Imran said, “This happens when decisions are taken behind closed doors by one man who enjoys absolute power.” At the same time, Imran also acknowledged that Bajwa stood with the PTI government and supported its policies when the coronavirus pandemic was raging on.

“Gen Bajwa supported us on this,” he said. “There were more things he lent support for, such as during the polio and locust crises.” ‘Will announce date for court arrest drive soon’

During the address, Imran also said he was “fully prepar­ing” for the ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ (court arrest drive).

“I’m happy that people are registering for it,” he said. “I will soon announce when it will begin.”

Towards the end of his ad­dress, Imran told the country’s youth who were thinking to leave the country that there was no place to run to.

“The nations that don’t fight for independence, never achieve it,” he concluded. “The chains do not come off themselves but they have to be broken.”