File photo of PTI chief Imran Khan
The core committee of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday announced it has devised a comprehensive strategy to rebuff attempts to make an example of party chief Imran Khan through alleged undemocratic, unconstitutional and non-political state actors.
The meeting of the core committee, per a statement, reviewed all court proceedings against Khan and alleged justice was being “murdered,” angering the public, in a bid to damage the former prime minister’s popularity. It also vowed to counter the “reprehensible attempts” to expedite trials to punish Khan and pile on reserved judgments to deprive him of justice.
The party’s core committee also condemned the “recovery” of former PTI leader Ali Nawaz Awan from the “drawing room” of the “king’s party”—the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP)—after a “disappearance” of more than two weeks. “State functionaries, who are conducting a vicious cycle of kidnapping for statements and violating the sanctity of politics and democracy, are pushing Pakistan towards further decline,” it claimed, adding the response of the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, to such occurrences was “disappointing.”
Maintaining the “state’s madness” against the PTI, and “insults” to fundamental rights and the right to representation, were provoking reactions from the public, it added: “The nefarious designs of trampling the will of the people and settling the corridors of power with ponies reared in the state’s stables will fail just as they have failed for the last 18 months.”
The core committee, read the statement, also reviewed the alleged efforts to delay the general elections. “We are well aware of the objectives of the deliberate campaign to postpone the elections by various quarters,” it said, without specifying who it was referring to. Vowing that the PTI would not tolerate any furthers delays to the conduct of free and fair polls on Feb. 8, 2024, it noted the Supreme Court had declared this date a “line in the stone.”
“The apex court should take notice of the ongoing series of pre-election rigging and ensure that the elections are held as per the criteria laid down in the Constitution on Feb. 8,” it said, while condemning authorities’ refusal to allow various workers and officials to meet Khan in violation of court orders. The core committee said it had approved the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against jail authorities. It also welcomed six new members in the core committee with the formal approval of Imran Khan.