IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO ELECTIONS: ‘Decisive’ time

PTI Chairman Imran Khan Friday maintained that he will fight his opponents as long as he is alive and spoke about his arrival in Rawalpindi on Saturday. “Going to Rawalpindi as it is a decisive time in the country. We want to become a country that Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal dreamt of,” Khan said speaking in an interview to a private news channel. Commenting on the threats conveyed by the government in PTI’s rally, the former prime minister said: “Women and families come to our gatherings. They want to attack on me. I’m being cautious and there is no fear.” Imran Khan recalled the attempted assassination attack on him sharing how he has seen death very closely. “I have seen death very closely. Allah is the savior,” Khan said in the interview. The former premier also commented about delay in the first information report’s (FIR) registration after the attack and appreciated the Punjab government for their support. “Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Moonis [Elahi] ensured full force. The policeman said, ‘I will not sign on this FIR’. But I know who tried to assassinate me,” Khan said lamenting about the common man’s plight of registering FIR when someone like him also struggles. When asked about the fears and the terror threat alerts, Imran said he is “being careful”. “I’m the target, not the people. It’s not like a bomb will go off. They want to target me. So I’m taking precautions, and I’m not worried.” He said earlier that “these thieves are so afraid of the people because no one gets out for them. All these parties combined can fill just a small part of Minar-i-Pakistan”. He praised the participation of women and predicted that women and children would participate in tomorrow’s march in large numbers. Imran Khan claimed that some people wanted a clash between the army and his party. Khan said he never thought of picking an army chief of his choice, adding that he believed in merit-based decisions. Rejecting the perception that he is against the institution, the PTI leader said that there are good and bad people in every institution. “Institutions earn respect itself. They receive honour due to their decisions,” he added. Khan said, “This is my country and my army.” Media and social media created awareness among the people, said the PTI chairperson, adding that he wanted to convey a message to the masses that the country has reached a decisive point. The nation should make its decisions itself, no one should give us dictation from outside, Khan added. He maintained that freedom is achieved when no one dictates us whether we should buy oil from Russia or not. A system based on justice gives people freedom, the PTI chairman noted. Responding to a question, the PTI chairman said that he is going to Rawalpindi for the sake of the nation and hoped “The nation will come out for me.” Reiterating his stance on polls, Imran Khan said that elections will be held no matter what they do. “They are afraid of losing whenever elections take place. Elections will be pushed till October the most, we have to keep pressuring them” Khan said stressing that there is no way to save the country from destruction except for elections. The former premier challenged PML-N supremo to participate in elections to see where his party stands. “They think politics will not function without the man who ran away from the country after lying. I don’t have any problem. He should come and contest elections,” he said adding that the nation understands them now. He said it all boils down to elections. “The country needs elections. If you want to fix the country, you need elections. If you want to boost the economy, it won’t happen without political stability. “If political stability will come from elections, and the aspirations are elections.” He said he fears that the economy “will be out of everyone’s hands” based on the direction the government is taking the country. When asked of what CBMS – confidence-building measures – the establishment could take to demonstrate its neutrality or apolitical stance, Imran said that the “biggest step would be remove those who “reached the heights of cruelty”. “The manner in which they committed cruelties against us in seven months […] Shahbaz Gill and Azam Swati named names. They named ‘Dirty Harry’. And Arshad Sharif. We all know who was passing the threats. “For God’s sake, go along with the Constitution. Do whatever you want within the ambit of the law and Constitution.