PTI contacting political parties on poll delay issue

Imran urges nation to get united to defend judiciary,

Lahore_Former prime minister Imran Khan has said that he would not negotiate with the government, and if talks were held his party delegation would take part.

Talking to a foreign TV channel, Imran said that he would not sit with those whom he called thieves and corrupt.

The biggest problem of the country today is holding general elections in 90 days, he said and added that if the elections were not being held within the stipulated time, the chances of elections in October were dim.

The PTI chairman said that if the talks were held, they would be held only on the issue of elections.

“If they don’t agree to the elections, then there is no point in negotiations. I have no contact with anyone, but I am ready to talk about holding the elections,” he continued.

He criticised ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif and said that dividing the Supreme Court for his personal interests was an old strategy of him.

By refusing to accept the decision of the Supreme Court, you give an impression that there was no Constitution and law in the country. But the entire nation would stand by the Supreme Court, he added.

Imran claimed that in 2018 elections, PTI’s seats were reduced through a plan to manipulate the assembly.

He also claimed that he knew who managed the PTI members.

He strongly criticised the PDM for refusing to accept the decision of the three-member bench of the Supreme Court and said that the PTI would fully support the Supreme Court.

Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan has given a task to his party leaders to make contacts with other political parties and members of civil society on the polls delay issue, and for mustering support for the judiciary,

According to 24News channel, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is making contacts with other political parties.

PTI Chief Imran Khan has decided to contact the Grand Democratic Alliance in Sindh. On his direction, Shah Mehmood Qureshi has gone to Karachi.

PTI’s opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh and Sindh’s former governor Imran Ismail held a meeting with Imran Khan in Lahore today.

Imran gave the duo task to contact the GDA. After Qureshi’s meeting with the GDA leaders, Sheikh and Ismail would also meet them.

Imran also tasked them to contact all political parties and members of civil society who support the establishment of rule of law and supremacy of the constitution. The PTI chief was of the view that currently, the judiciary was under attack, saying that the entire nation should be united at this juncture.

“All those political parties should be contacted which want to stand for the supremacy of the constitution,” he added. The PTI is contacting the allies of the government on the poll delay issue.

Yesterday, PTI President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi contacted Mutahidda Quomi Movement – another government ally. Imran Khan has urged the nation to get united to defend the judiciary.

He was talking to Leader of Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh and former governor of Sindh Imran Ismail who called on him at his Zaman Park residence here on Sunday.

Imran gave the party leaders the task to contact political parties and civil society for the supremacy of the Constitution and upholding the rule of law. He told them that the judiciary was under attack and they have to unite the nation to defend it.Haleem ensured Imran that he would carry out the task entrusted to him and unite Sindh’s political, religious, nationalist parties and civil society.

Earlier on Saturday, Imran denounced former prime minister and chief of his own faction of Muslim League Nawaz Sharif for talking against the Supreme Court bench hearing the plea against delay in holding elections. Imran also urged the nation to stand up to defend the Constitution and law for the sake of the country.

Addressing a press conference from London a couple of days ago, Nawaz expressed distrust of the current bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, and demanded a full court to hear the PTI petition. Imran said a convicted fugitive, sitting in London, was taking decisions, and dictating what was acceptable and what was undesirable, and speaking against the Supreme Court bench.

If the nation did not stand up to defend the Constitution and law, the country would not be a place worth living in, he warned. Legal experts agreed that delaying elections past 90 days was a violation of the Constitution, he said, adding that his opponents await his arrest or disqualification to hold elections to ensure their easy victory. Imran said the rulers were making an all-out effort to keep him out of the process so their NRO could be saved.

He expressed his doubt that the incumbent rulers would not hold elections even in October. He was concerned at the economic situation of the country saying that the country was plunging in the crisis. Poor people have been dying to in an attempt to get a bag of clour. The PTI chief stressed the importance of political stability in promoting economic growth, reiterating that holding elections within stipulated period would provide a much-needed boost to the economy.

The top PML-N leadership was refusing to accept a verdict by the bench hearing the election delay case, he said. The former premier argued that the reason for refusal to accept the verdict was rooted in their apprehension about losing in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. Calling into question Nawaz’s rhetoric against the judges, he recalled the suo motu notice against him [Khan] by Chief Justice Bandial.

“These same judges ruled against us. I announced the elections. But the CJP took suo motu notice and gave the ruling against us,” he pointed out. “The courts opened at midnight is a fact that hurts me the most,” he said.