- Slams Bajwa, PDM for ‘conspiracy’ on first anniversary of ouster from power
- Criticizes PDM’s govt for pushing country to verge of default
LAHORE: On the first anniversary of ouster from power, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday said the “conspiracy” for his removal was hatched by local players in Pakistan and not in the United States.
“On this day last year, I left the Prime Minister’s House with my diary and there was a conspiracy behind the ouster of my government,” Imran said on Sunday in a video address to his supporters from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
Addressing PTI workers and supporters after one year of the regime change, Imran said that PTI came into power during a difficult time and the economy was stabilised in the last year of the PTI government.
“The performance of this government is witnessed by everyone. We [PTI] went from terrorism to tourism and the situation has worsened again.”
On April 9 last year, Imran Khan was voted out from power through a vote of a no-confidence motion, becoming the first prime minister in the country’s history to be unseated by a parliamentary revolt.
Imran had initially accused the US of engineering his ouster from power by colluding with the then-opposition PDM. However, later he backtracked on his allegations, saying he “wants a dignified relationship [with Washington] if re-elected”.
In today’s address, the ousted premier said he was told by a head of a Middle East country that “efforts are being made to remove you from power and your army chief is not happy with you”.
He claimed that General (retd) Bajwa brought incumbent PM Shehbaz Sharif into power and also saved him from corruption cases under the plot to topple his government.
The ex-PM asserted that the ‘conspiracy’ for his ouster was not initiated from the US, as they had previously believed, but rather it was planned by local players and former Pakistan envoy to US Hussain Haqqani hired to label him as anti-American and promote General Bajwa.
Comparing his government’s performance with the PDM regime, Imran said the country’s economy had been destroyed by the incumbent rulers since his ouster from power.
“The current rulers removed their names from the exit control list (ECL) and later destroyed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The FIA was tasked to lodge cases against PTI and now, overall 144 cases including 40 terrorism cases were lodged against me,” he pointed out.
“Sedition case was filed against Ali Amin Gandapur. The government was bound to give me security but it failed. They issued a warrant for Bani Gala’s residence and the DIG raided Zaman Park. They tried to assassinate me like Salman Taseer,” he added.
The former premier alleged that the joint investigation team (JIT) was sabotaged after a gun attack and later they attacked the residence. “They wanted to kill me like Murtaza Bhutto.”
Imran insisted that for the first time in 17 years, the country’s economy witnessed a growth rate of 6 per cent and most money was invested in the agriculture sector.
“During our time, inflation was 12 per cent and now it is at 35 per cent,” he said.
Criticising the PML-N government for runaway inflation, Imran said that a 20kg bag of flour was available at Rs1,200 during his tenure which is now being sold at Rs2,800.
Moreover, he also claimed that the media never enjoyed “so much freedom” in the history of the country as it had during his time in power
PTI to ‘expose’ PDM govt’s performance through white paper
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan will present a white paper against the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government’s performance since they came to power.
Sources said that the PTI chairman will issue a white paper on the economic situation via video link address.
The former premier will compare his government’s performance with that of the incumbent PDM setup, whom he blamed for the looming threat of default.
The former ruling party is highly critical of the economic performance of its rivals, the parties in the coalition government, accusing them of derailing the country ever since it was ousted from power in April last year.
The party has continuously lashed out at the ruling alliance for making the wrong economic decisions.
