Screengrab of PTI chief Imran Khan’s speech
Despite promising a “proper expose” on the cipher controversy a day earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday reiterated the same allegations he has been voicing for the past year, accusing former Army chief Gen. (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa of conspiring to remove him from the Prime Minister’s Office.
In a nearly 30-minute address, which was broadcast on social media two hours later than scheduled, Khan reiterated claims of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and the former Army chief colluding to oust his government through a vote of no-confidence.
According to Khan, the cipher had “two main things,” the foremost being his removal as prime minister through a vote of no-confidence and the second that he had solely decided to visit Moscow on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Noting then-ambassador to the U.S. Asad Majeed Khan had rebutted this and maintained that the decision to go to Russia was taken by all stakeholders, he lauded the former envoy for his integrity and steadfastness, claiming the same courage was not shown by politicians. Khan made no mention of repeated statements from Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in which he has made it clear the decision to go to Russia was taken by the state of Pakistan.
The PTI chief recalled that the former ambassador had advised the government to issue a demarche over the cipher over the “intemperate” language of U.S. official Donald Lu. On the alleged demand by Lu—repeatedly denied by the U.S.—for the removal of Khan, the former prime minister reiterated claims this message was intended for Gen. Bajwa. “The cipher was sent for Gen. Bajwa,” he claimed, reiterating allegations of the then-opposition colluding with former Army chief to oust him.
“My own Army chief was lobbying against me and acting to topple the government that had revived the country’s economy and industry after hectic efforts,” he claimed, while maintaining that his criticism for an individual did not reflect his views on an entire institution.
Recalling he had sent the cipher to the chief justice of Pakistan for an inquiry, and also placed it before the National Security Committee, he claimed any inquiry would have found that the former Army chief was responsible for it—though did not explain how Gen. (retd.) Bajwa manipulated the U.S. envoy into seeking his demands. “America only protects its own interests,” he said, noting he had also taken the cipher to Parliament for an in-camera meeting.
But, he claimed, opposition leaders Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari did not turn up because “they were part of the conspiracy”. “If an inquiry would have been held, Gen Bajwa would have been exposed,” he added. Reiterating demands for an inquiry into the U.S. cipher “conspiracy,” he said the Federal Investigation Agency was not “competent enough” to conduct it. “The nation must know about the real players behind the conspiracy,” he said.
The PTI chief alleged no one in the government cared about the state of the country and the rulers were all operating on a one-point agenda to disqualify him and send him to jail. In order to achieve this, they have now brought forward the cipher, he claimed. “But they are clueless that this cipher will be their annihilation,” he added.
The former prime minister also reiterated his support for former principal secretary to the P.M. Azam Khan, who reportedly “confessed” earlier this week of the PTI’s plans to use the cipher for political purposes. “The kind of things I have read [about the alleged confession] … he could not have said them,” he said of Khan’s reported statement. “Until I hear these claims from Azam Khan’s mouth, I will not believe this because many of them are not true,” he said, adding he might have been “forced” to give the statement before a magistrate.