Former Pakistan PM Imran's party to quit all assemblies

ISLAMABAD: At the climax of his long march, Pakistan former prime minister Imran Khan announced on Saturday that his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf will quit all provincial assemblies, a move meant to intensify pressure on the beleaguered government to call snap polls.

Addressing hundreds of thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi in his first public appearance after being shot and wounded in the leg at a rally in Wazirabad, Pakistan Punjab, three weeks ago, the PTI chairman announced: “We will not march towards Islamabad as I do not want to spread chaos and anarchy in the country. But we have decided not to remain part of this system. We have decided to quit all the assemblies and get out of this corrupt system.”

The Khan-led PTI is in government in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Khan said he had discussed the matter of stepping down from all assemblies with all chief ministers and the final decision in this regard will be announced after PTI’s parliamentary party meeting.

Imran claimed his party did not come to Rawalpindi for elections or politics but because the country needed a fresh election.

Khan alleged again that “three criminals” were waiting to make another attempt on his life. The former PM had accused PM Shehbaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and Maj Gen Faisal Naseer of the ISI of plotting the attack on him in Wazirabad. “Fear makes an entire nation into slaves. You should not be intimidated by threats or violence,” he told his supporters from behind a bulletproof glass shield.

Khan admitted he had failed during his tenure as PM to bring the powerful under the law, saying that they were protected by powerful quarters, a reference to the military establishment.

Imran said Pakistan’s history will attest that he kept fighting till the last ball for Pakistan. “I also want to say that those who saw a massive rise in their assets (a veiled reference to General Qamar Javed Bajwa) and trampled the nation’s rights … history is also looking towards him and writing down what he did with the country.”

Khan’s long march had started from Lahore on October 28 but paused after the attack on him. Ahead of the Rawalpindi rally, he had been addressing supporters daily via video links.