| Imran Khan claims his party will emerge with a clear majority in case of a rerun | Says we will bring Nawaz back to country and keep him in jail | If I have to, I will go and talk to Boris Johnson to get Nawaz deported | Unfortunately, Judiciary had always supported Nawaz in his wrongdoings to country 

LAHORE  -  Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that he is ready for midterm elections in any case.

“I will be happy because if elections are held again in Pakistan, I will emerge with a clear majority,” the premier said in an interview with a private news channel Friday.  When asked a question on whether midterm elections will be held in the country, Imran Khan said he was ready for that. “They say ‘hope for the best, prepare for the worst’,” said PM Imran Khan.

Referring to Opposition parties, the prime minister said that as a cricketer, he knew how to compete with the other team

hence he was confident of winning elections if polls were held across the country in the near future. 

To another question, the prime minister said that the Senate elections will be held in Pakistan as per schedule. 

Imran Khan also confirmed that his government was in regular contact with the British government to get PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif deported from the UK, and he will even talk to Prime Minister Boris Johnson if it comes to that. He said since getting Nawaz extradited from Britain would be a “long process”, his government was pushing for him to be deported “which can happen immediately”.

“We are in regular contact with their officials. We are making full efforts to get him deported,” the PM said in the latest TV interview. “ If I have to, I will go and talk to Boris Johnson,” he added while answering a question. Prime Minister Imran and UK premier Johnson have enjoyed a friendly relationship since before they were elected into office. Also, PM Imran referred to Opposition leaders as “thieves” and vowed to never let them form government in Pakistan even if he does not remain in power. “Even if I am not in power, I will not let these thieves return [to government],” said PM Imran. “ If they return, I will mobilise the masses and make them come out on roads [to protest].”

The premier said he knew who Opposition leaders keep meeting in secret, adding that he “receives reports” about such meetings.  PM Imran said that he was ready to talk to the Opposition on any issue except for when they demanded an NRO from him. He said that Opposition leaders used to deceive the government, adding that “they say right and go left.” “The state will be destroyed if the government gives them an NRO,” he said. 

Once again regretting his decision to allow the PML-N leader to travel abroad, Imran said, “I should have known that he has lied throughout his life.”

He said the judiciary had “unfortunately” always supported Nawaz in his wrongdoings to the country, saying the government had placed the condition of Rs7 billion surety bonds in order to allow Nawaz to go abroad, but the Lahore High Court had rejected it and instead accepted Shehbaz Sharif’s guarantee.

Prime Minister Imran laughed sarcastically when asked about the Sindh police chief’s alleged “abduction” ahead of PML-N leader Mohammad Safdar’s arrest in Karachi earlier this week. “I find this comedic; it looks like a joke is taking place,” he said, adding that the opposition was supported by “all of Pakistan’s enemies”.

He said the opposition was collaborating with the Indian and Israeli lobbies in the United States, whose representative he claimed was former Pakistani ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani.

The prime minister said in India, news was being run about a “civil war” taking place in Karachi after Safdar’s arrest, while “this rat Nawaz Sharif was being exalted as a hero of democracy”. He accused Nawaz of creating differences within the army and judiciary. “What could be more disgraceful than [for Nawaz] to say, ‘I am against [COAS] Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and [ISI chief] Lt Gen Faiz Hameed but support the rest of the army’?” he asked.

“I was telling my party from day one that there is no use of talking to them (opposition) because we don’t plan on giving them an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordina¬nce-like concession),” he added.