ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Saturday reiterated that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party would dissolve the provincial assemblies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab no later than December.
Khan, who has been mounting pressure on the government to announce general elections since his ouster from office in April, announced last month that the PTI would dissolve the provincial assemblies in the two provinces where it is in power, KP and Punjab.
The PTI has resigned from the federal parliament but it remains in power in Punjab, KP as well as two other administrative units. Khan aims to pressurize the government into declaring early elections by dissolving the assemblies.
In Punjab, PTI ally Chaudhry Pervez Elahi is the chief minister of the province. Elahi has reiterated that he would dissolve the assembly in the blink of an eye as soon as Khan gives him the order to do so.
In an interview with private news channel Bol News, the former prime minister said a caretaker setup will be in place within 48 hours after the assemblies are dissolved.
“It will happen soon, it won’t take time,” Khan said. When asked for an “exact timeframe,” the PTI chairman responded by saying the assemblies will be dissolved “within December.”
In response to another question, Khan rejected reports that Elahi had demanded he would dissolve the assemblies if only Khan were to nominate him as the party’s candidate for the chief minister’s post once elections are held in Punjab.
“No, he hasn’t given any such condition,” Khan said.
Ousted in a parliamentary vote in April, Khan and his supporters have also variously expressed disappointment in the all-powerful military and former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for not siding with his government or blocking the success of the no-confidence motion filed by a joint opposition.
Khan continued with his criticism of the military, saying that despite the institution’s repeated claims that it would remain apolitical, it did the opposite. “You do not have expertise in politics but you become experts in it,” he said. “It’s like making a hockey player play cricket and expecting he would excel in it.”
