LAHORE           -      Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has rejected the appointment of Mohsin Naqvi as the caretaker Punjab chief minister, who, he said,’ had a major role in the ‘regime change conspiracy’ against his government and was given the importance assignment to rig the upcoming elections in Punjab.Addressing a televised press conference here on Monday, he said that the ECP caused irreparable damage to the country and announced to approach the court against Naqvi’s appointment, who was appointed by the same people who redlined use.

“When I was in power, I received a report about a man who tried the most to topple the PTI’s government. His name was Mohsin Naqvi. The intelligence bureau also gave a report on his activities,” Khan added. Imran said the role of caretaker set-up is like a neutral umpire, adding:

“The appointment of Mohsin Naqvi proved the partiality of the election commission, who will appoint police officers and other bureaucrats who will rig the elections.” The PTI Chairman vowed that he would not accept a corrupt person in such a high-ranking post, who worked as a messenger between Zardari and Nawaz and even Bajwa. Imran urged the nation to come out onto the streets and prove that they “are not cattle. “We cannot accept a person who is following an agenda and has conspired against me in the past,” he added.

“What would be the reputation of a man whom Zardari takes as his son? Naqvi neither possesses the moral standards nor the impartiality,” Khan said. He further said: “In 2018, Naqvi returned Rs 3.5 million to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and accepted that he had stolen money.”

“The standards of our democracy have degraded so much that no one trusts the government to conduct transparent elections. The basic reason behind a caretaker government is its neutrality.” “Peaceful protest demonstrations will be held in Lahore and Rawalpindi on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively,” he said, adding that later they would hold protests in Faisalabad, Multan and other cities. “Now they will make all-out efforts to defeat our party in the elections through rigging,” he said. Khan said that a caretaker set-up was established to hold fair and free elections and PTI recommended appropriate names for the non-partisan slot of the caretaker Punjab CM.

“We selected Nasir Khosa who served as the principal secretary of Nawaz Sharif, whereas Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera is the cabinet secretary. We thought that no one would raise any objections over Sukhera’s name. Naveed Akram Cheema had also served as the chief secretary of Nawaz Sharif. All of them were rejected and Naqvi was nominated for the post,” he added. “In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) recommended Azam Khan for the caretaker CM’s slot and we did not raise any objections over his name.

I have never seen such a dishonest election commission in my life,” Khan maintained. Imran Khan said that the incumbent election commission always gave decisions against the PTI and its decisions were always overturned by the courts. The election should be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the assembly, he further said. Khan said that elections should be held in Punjab prior to the holy month of Ramadan. “They are scared of PTI’s popularity because we cannot be defeated in elections,” Imran said. He alleged that Naqvi would not allow provincial elections to take place until the electoral staff was replaced so that the former opposition’s win was guaranteed. “They will go towards polls when they have their own administration and staff.

They want to conduct controlled elections,” he added. Terming the Toshakhana case as a “big joke”, he said that the imported government provided all the details about him in the case but when the court sought a record, they say “it is secret and could hurt national interests globally”. However, he said that Nawaz Sharif, Zardari and Gillani stole vehicles from Toshakhana; hence they resisted to divulge the details before the court. “Just like in Karachi, the thieves want to be imposed on the country through the rigging,” he added.

Imran Khan went on to say that his name had been cancelled by the very people behind political manoeuvring in the country underlining how the country suffers when politicians are unlawfully targeted. “When Sheikh Mujib Ur Rahman was targeted, the country was broken. When Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was targeted, the MQM was formed. Balochistan’s situation has not improved since Nawab Akbar Bugti was targeted,” he said.