By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed on Friday for dialogue with the government and other state institutions to resolve the country’s political and economic crisis, warning that hyperinflation and social unrest were looming.
Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said he was not seeking talks out of weakness but out of concern for the nation’s future.
The former premier accused the coalition government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of cracking down on his supporters, arresting thousands, and forcing some to defect at gunpoint.
“I would like to appeal for talks because what is currently happening is not a solution,” Khan said in a live video address from his home in Lahore, where he claimed that he has been under virtual house arrest since last month.
“The country is heading towards an imminent disaster since hyperinflation is around the corner. But the incumbent rulers are least bothered as they have stashed the looted wealth abroad.”
The PTI chief said the country was facing a severe economic crisis, with inflation soaring and the currency losing value against the dollar.
“The salaried class will soon be compelled to come out on roads when they will not be able to bear the burden of price hike,” he said. “The solution to the country’s problems rests in the state institutions functioning within their constitutional roles.”
Khan’s call for dialogue came amid a deepening political impasse that has pitted his party against Sharif’s ruling coalition and the country’s powerful military establishment.
The cricketer-turned-politician also accused the military, and the election commission of siding with Sharif and thwarting his party’s efforts to push for early elections in the country.
“The whole establishment, civil administration, and the Election Commission of Pakistan are standing with the PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement], but the rulers are still afraid of holding elections,” Khan said.
“The solution to the country’s problems rests in the state institutions functioning within their constitutional roles.”
Khan said he had been “isolated” at his home, cut off from the senior leadership of his party, while his supporters faced harassment and intimidation.
“No political party has ever witnessed such a barbaric action from the rulers,” he said.
The government has arrested thousands of Khan’s supporters following violent protests on May 9, when he was arrested in a land fraud case.
Khan’s party supporters stormed military installations, including the house of a top general in Lahore, which they set ablaze.
“Anyone who supports PTI is either arrested or has gone underground,” he told France 24 in an interview broadcast Friday.
Khan said he was not deterred by the defections of some of his party members, whom he described as “forced divorces”.
He said his party’s popularity was only rising because of the government’s repression and that he was confident of winning an election whenever it was held.
Khan also condemned a May 9 attack on the residence of the Lahore corps commander, one of the top military officials in Punjab province, which he blamed on “rogue elements” within his party.
He said he did not want to weaken the army, which he called a vital institution for Pakistan’s security.
“Who will not condemn such a brazen attack on army installations? … Weakening the institution of the army is tantamount to weakening the country.”
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