ISLAMABAD      -    Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has called on President Dr Arif Alvi to act against the alleged abuse of power and violations of laws as well as the Constitution and take note of “serious wrongdoings” which are undermining the country’s national security. Khan in a letter written to Alvi said that the President in his capacity as the Supreme Comnmander of the Armed Forces should initiate the process of drawing up the “clear operational lines” for the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in the backdrop of a press conference by two military bureaucrats. He also asked Alvi to institute an inquiry to “identify the guilty” and hold them accountable. Khan lamented that since the PTI government’s ouster, the party had been confronted with “an ever increasing scale of false allegations, harassment, arrests and custodial torture”. The ex-premier claimed that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had repeatedly issued life threats to him. He also reiterated his claims about a conspiracy being hatched to assassinate him by the interior minister, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a senior military official. “The plot was operationalized … during our long march but Allah saved me and the assassination attempt failed,” he said. In his letter, Khan claimed that the Official Secrets Act was breached when a “confidential conversation between myself as prime minister, the Chief of Army Staff and the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), on a supposedly secure line, was leaked to the media. “This raises a very serious question as to who or what organisation was involved in doing a clearly illegal wiretap of the PM’s secure phone line? This is a breach of national security at the highest level,” he said. The PTI chief also went on to talk about the cipher controversy, and noted that the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting held during his tenure had “decided this was an unacceptable intrusion into our internal matters” which was also later reaffirmed during the meeting held under the Shehbaz government. “In view of this, a joint press conference was held on 27 October 2022 by the DG ISI and DG ISPR,” he said and questioned how the head of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency could hold a public press conference. “The parameters of a military information organisation such as the ISPR also need to be clearly defined and limited to information relating to defence and military issues. As Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, I call on you to initiate the drawing up of these clear operational lines for the ISPR,” Khan demanded. “You hold the highest office of state and I am requesting you to act now to stop the abuse of power and violations of our laws and of the Constitution, which ensures the fundamental rights of every citizen,” he concluded. Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said Monday that the party’s long march would achieve its target ‘no matter what the circumstances’ as the former prime minister pressurises the government in his quest for snap polls. Imran is currently recovering in Lahore from the bullet injuries that he sustained in the Wazirabad attempted assassination attack. He was discharged from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital a day earlier. The ex-prime minister, during a meeting with representatives of media bodies, said that the party would back down only after getting the date for general elections. PTI chief said that no compromise could be made with coalition rulers, including PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. In a change of plans, Khan said the march would resume on Wednesday (November 9) instead of Tuesday. The PTI chief did not give a reason for the delay. He said the march would be led by PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar and the party’s Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The long march had come to a halt last week after the attack on Khan. The PTI chief — who has been critical of the armed forces since his ouster in April — said that the personnel of the army standing guard on the borders were like his “children”. Khan said that going against the institution was not an option for the party. The former prime minister has blamed three people, including a senior military official, for the Wazirabad attack and also called for his dismissal. However, the army has rejected the allegation and termed it ‘baseless’.