- Says PTI chief’s politics aims at making way to power at all costs
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and said that the ousted premier wants to make his way to power “even if it means undermining” the country’s democratic system.
In a tweet on Sunday, PM Shehbaz said that the PTI chief’s “recent diatribe against parliamentary democracy is the latest in a series of attacks that fly in the face of how democracy functions in modern nation-states”.
As the PTI chief speaks against state institutions and hurls abuses against the ruling alliance leaders, PM Shehbaz believed that his politics’ solely aimed at coming back into power through any means necessary.
“His (Khan’s) politics is aimed at making his way to power even if it means undermining foundations this country stands on,” the prime minister expressed.
The PM’s statement comes after the PTI chief shared his willingness to halt the dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies if the coalition government agrees to conduct elections by the end of March next year — an announcement described as pressure tactic by the critics and the coalition alliance.
He added that the deposed premier’s “politics is aimed at making his way to power even if it means undermining foundations this country stands on”.
Earlier, the federal government had told the PTI chief that the threats and dialogue offer could not go hand in hand in response to Imran’s offer of holding talks on the condition of announcing fresh general polls.
On Friday, the PTI chief had softened his stance on possible talks with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders and had appeared to be striking a conciliatory tone as he signalled his openness to “sit and talk and give a date for the general elections”.
However, while making the offer he had also threatened to dissolve the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) assemblies.
The offer for talks to the government had appeared to mark a departure from the hardline stance he had taken during his mammoth November 26 Rawalpindi rally.
However, a day later, while addressing K-P lawmakers through a video link from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore on Saturday, Imran lamented that the coalition government rejected his offer for talks and directed lawmakers to “start preparing for elections”.
Following the ex-PM’s advice to his lawmakers, senior party leader Fawad Chaudhry revealed that the party would first go for polls in Punjab and K-P.
A day earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan invited the ruling coalition to hold talks over date of general elections, noting that his party would only wait till March.
Speaking to a private news channel, the former premier said that if the incumbent government is ready to hold elections by the end of March, he would not dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
However, he said, his party won’t agree on a date after March and assemblies will be dissolved this month [December] if the government disagrees.
“We are ready to hold negotiations over date of general elections,” the former prime minister said, citing the devastating economic situation as the reason behind PTI’s constant demand.
Imran Khan warned that he would dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies if the government refuses to hold elections in March.
Speaking of the dissolution of assemblies, the PTI Chairman noted that Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi had vowed to follow his orders. “Pervaiz Elahi has given me the full authority to dissolve the assembly whenever I want,” he added.
