LAHORE: Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday alleged that former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had a “deal” in place with PPP chief Asif Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, citing it as the reason why corruption could not be rooted out during his government.
Speaking to journalists at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Imran Khan termed the alleged deal as the reason why accountability of the corrupt could not reach a logical conclusion.
Khan claimed that initially, Gen (retd) Bajwa did not oppose his anti-corruption drive to hold culprits accountable “but eventually asked me to focus on the economy and to move away from accountability”.
Imran said that when the PTI was in power, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was under Gen (r) Bajwa’s control. “There is no rule of law. Only the powerful rule this country,” he asserted.
“We found out during the last year of my government’s tenure that Gen Bajwa does not want accountability to take place,” Imran alleged, adding that he would’ve “cleansed” the entire country of corruption had he had an “appropriate” army chief in place.
The former prime minister said that the “regime change operation” was supposed to hurt the PTI but it instead ended up boosting the party’s popularity.
“Gen Bajwa kept thinking that the [surprise] rise of PTI will soon be over but that did not happen.”
Imran alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was under the control of the establishment too.
Responding to a question pertaining to the prohibited foreign funding case, Imran said the PPP and PML-N did not have any receipt of the foreign funding received by them whereas PTI has data of 40,000 donors.
“Supreme Court directed the foreign funding cases of all the political parties should be heard together,” he recalled, adding it did not happen.
Talking about the prevailing political situation, the former PM said that he would not tarnish the trust of the public for the sake of power. “I will not strike any deal to form a government again,” asserted Khan.
Imran predicted that general elections will take place around March-April, adding that his party’s MNAs will visit the National Assembly on Monday to confirm their resignations. He said that the PTI is entering into an alliance with Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) because they have supported the PTI.
