Imran Khan says no to Sri Lanka style mass protests
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided not to stage mass protests like Sri Lanka to overthrow the Government.
Thousands took to the streets and staged protests, some turning violent, forcing then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to step down.
Khan has been hinting of similar protests in Pakistan to overthrow the Government.
However, according to Bloomberg, he has decided not to push for violent protests like what was seen in Colombo.
Khan has decided to dissolve two regional legislatures on December 23, in the latest political maneuvering to force early elections.
Bloomberg quoted Khan as saying the Chief Ministers in central Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces will seek the dissolution of assemblies and lawmakers at the National Assembly will ask the speaker of the parliament’s lower house to accept their resignations.
“We sacrifice our assemblies for Pakistan,” Khan, 70, said while speaking via video at a gathering of his supporters in Lahore, Punjab’s capital, on Saturday evening. “I don’t want a Sri Lanka-like situation. I want to defeat them through vote.”
Khan, flanked by chief ministers of the two provinces, said the country demands the restructuring of institutions that can only be done if he returns to power with a heavy mandate. “Our movement for free and fair elections will now continue,” he said.
The Government will have to hold elections for the provincial assemblies in 90 days and Khan’s party wants to secure a two-thirds majority in the provinces for five years, said Hammad Azhar, a senior leader in Khan’s party. This will also push the government for general elections, said Azhar.
The South Asian nation holds federal and provincial assembly elections together and any early provincial elections will change the cycle. Khan has a majority in two of the four provincial assemblies in Pakistan.
The move comes as Pakistan deals with an economic crisis that includes a dollar shortage and a delay in its latest loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund. Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings downgraded the nation deeper into junk in October after devastating floods jeopardized its fiscal health.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Government called the move a political gimmick. “His noise is just an attempt to cover up his wrong doings,” Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said at a press conference soon after Khan’s speech.
Khan’s protests have drawn large crowds since he was removed from power in a no-confidence vote in April and he’s currently recovering from injuries sustained after he was shot at a protest rally last month. In addition, the former cricket star faces several legal challenges that can bar him from office if he’s convicted. (Colombo Gazette)
With inputs from Bloomberg
