Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Saturday that timely elections were the only solution to problems facing the country, while urging President Asif Ali Zardari to step down in favour of free, fair and transparent polls.
Addressing a news conference at PTI’s Central Secretariat, Imran said that his party did not participate in Dr Tahirul Qadri’s long march because there was no justification for unconstitutional demands such as dissolution of assemblies. “It was not an easy decision,” the PTI chief said. He asked how the implementation of Qadri’s demands could be guaranteed when they did not have any constitutional position. “If we had joined Qadri’s long march, then we would have supported the unconstitutional demand for dissolving the present assemblies, which could provide a chance to the present government to claim political martyrdom,” he added.
The PTI chief said that the general elections would bring about a revolution. He said his party would not boycott the upcoming polls in any case, saying it was necessary to keep democracy on track.
ELECTORAL ALLIANCE WITH QADRI: To a question, Imran denied knowing the future plans of Dr Tahirul Qadri in connection with the coming elections. He said that Qadri had once announced that he would not participate in the polls. However, he added that any electoral alliance with Qadri could not be ruled out.
To another question, the PTI chairman said that he had not given a call for any long march, but had asked his party workers to remain ready for any expedition against the government. He said that any decision in this regard would be in accordance with the party interests and agenda, and would be taken at a right time.
Speaking about a recently held meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) at Raiwind, Imran said the ruling party in Punjab wanted to protect the status-quo.
NAB OFFICIAL PROBE: About the death of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigator Kamran Faisal, who was probing a scandal against the prime minister, Imran asked Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of the incident. He said the murder of Kamran Faisal was a hidden message to many others.
CARETAKER SETUP: Talking about the future caretaker setup in the country, the PTI chief said that all political parties should sit together to discuss the options, and the caretaker prime minister should be the one who has the consensus of all parties. However, he added that so far no one had approached his party to discuss the caretaker setup.
Zardari must step down for free, fair polls: Imran
