Bilal Habib/Agencies
RAHIM YAR KHAN - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has proposed formation of an inquiry commission under the Supreme Court for probing rigging in 2013 elections which shall include members of spy agencies.
He made this offer to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to end the prevailing political stalemate in the country while addressing an impressive public meeting in Rahim Yar Khan, a key industrial city in largely impoverished southern Punjab.
Imran demanded the commission, comprising members of judiciary and intelligence agencies – Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) – be made by November 30 and it should complete its work in four to six weeks. The head of the commission can be appointed through mutual consensus, he added.
Showing flexibility in his stance, Imran said Nawaz Sharif can remain prime minister during this time while their sit-in will also continue. However, he said the PM must resign if rigging is proved as a result of commission investigation.
Speaking on the Khawaja Farid College ground, the PTI chairman said they have been protesting peacefully for the last three months and went to every venue – election tribunals, parliament, courts, election commission – to get justice but justice was denied.
He warned that the November 30 demonstration would not necessarily be peaceful and that it would make it tough for the government to continue, as he invited farmers, labourers, clerks, jobless youth, women and all oppressed segments of society to the key event in PTI’s anti-government campaign.
Imran Khan said his party hasn’t turned down dialogue, alleging that the talks process was stopped by the government. He also criticised the judiciary by saying that it might be independent (to a degree) but it was not impartial. He also rejected Tassaduq Hussain Jillani’s candidacy for new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), saying he doesn’t trust Jillani and therefore had proposed the name of Nasir Aslam Zahid. He warned Jillani against accepting the offer.
He said if rigging was proved, the PM will have to resign and then mid-term elections should be held under a reconstituted Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He said his party will not accept ECP that is formed under ‘Muka Muka’ (a deal). Demanding resignation of all the existing election commissioners, he said they were responsible for an election that was declared unfair by all the parties including the ruling PML-N.
Imran Khan said he doesn’t want to become a Nawaz Sharif-like prime minister and he will never beg for aid from the US or other powers. “Allah Almighty has blessed me with everything and I have nothing to lose if I choose to walk away from the sit-ins… I have been staging the sit-in because I want justice for the people.”
Before presenting his new proposal, he hurled serious allegations of corruption and unscrupulous practices against Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. He said, “We (the people) have the right to know how much tax Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari pay and what is the worth of their assets outside Pakistan… They don’t declare their assets because they amassed wealth through illegal means.”
He claimed that the government was set to commit another ‘big robbery’ in the form of coal-powered electricity plants. “The electricity generated through coal will be so expensive that an average Pakistani will be unable to afford it.”