Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan the other day said Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has agreed to help hold free and fair elections in 2018.
Warning that his party will not accept another rigged election in the country, Imran during an interview with a private TV channel said, “If anyone thinks we’ll allow a 2013-like election to be held again, we won’t… I told this to [Army chief] General Bajwa and I am also telling this to the people.”
The cricketer-turned-politician said during his meeting with Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, he told the latter that “democracy isn’t about holding elections but it’s about holding free and fair elections.”
When asked about what made him issue a statement about General Bajwa’s support of the democratic system, Imran said: “He [Gen Bajwa] clearly said so. ‘I believe in democracy and we [army] want to strengthen it.’”
The PTI leader went on to claim that the army chief had promised to play his due role in conducting transparent elections in the country. “He said we as an institution believe in free and fair elections,” Imran quoted Gen Bajwa as saying.
The PTI chairman said his party demanded deployment of army personnel inside and outside all polling stations to stop rigging practices of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. “Such [rigging] tactics were unearthed in the judicial commission’s investigation.”
Regarding electoral reforms, Imran said his party put up a whole list of demands for electoral reforms before a parliamentary committee.
