Imran Khan worries about the PTI’s lack of a level playing field.

Polls conducted in such conditions would be a “farce,” claims the PTI’s creator in a piece for a British journal.

ISLAMABAD: As the country approaches a pivotal general election next month, former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has decried the absence of a level playing field for his party, claiming that the establishment is unable to give one.

He went on to say that polls would be a “farce” in such circumstances.

The former prime minister made the assertion in a piece for the British journal The Economist, which he wrote while imprisoned at Adiala.

“The manner in which I and my party have been targeted since a farcical vote of no confidence in April 2022 has made one thing clear: the establishment—the army, security agencies, and the civil bureaucracy—is not prepared to provide any playing field at all, let alone a level one, for PTI.”
The former prime minister claims that the establishment “engineered” the ouster of his administration “under pressure from America” because the US was “becoming agitated with my push for an independent foreign policy and my refusal to provide bases for its armed forces.”

In the post, Imran sticks to his encrypted story, saying, “I believe that the American official’s message was to the effect of: pull the plug on Khan’s prime ministership through a vote of no confidence, or else.” He goes on to say that “within weeks, our government was toppled,” and that he learned that former COAS Gen Bajwa had “worked on our allies and parliamentary backbenchers for several months to move against us.”

The Economist has inserted a disclaimer at the conclusion of the story stating both the Pakistani government and the US State Department “deny Mr Khan’s allegations of American interference in Pakistani politics.”

In the post, Imran sticks to his encrypted story, saying, “I believe that the American official’s message was to the effect of: pull the plug on Khan’s prime ministership through a vote of no confidence, or else.” He goes on to say that “within weeks, our government was toppled,” and that he learned that former COAS Gen Bajwa had “worked on our allies and parliamentary backbenchers for several months to move against us.”

The Economist has inserted a disclaimer at the conclusion of the story stating both the Pakistani government and the US State Department “deny Mr Khan’s allegations of American interference in Pakistani politics.”

According to the story, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif has “struck a deal with the establishment, whereby it will support his acquittal and throw its weight behind him in the upcoming elections.”

Khan adds that he remains “incarcerated, in solitary confinement, on absurd charges that include treason,” reiterating that the PTI is not being permitted to campaign freely. Even local worker conventions are prohibited for the handful of our party’s leaders who are free and not underground.”

Even if elections were held under such an environment, Imran believes they would be “a disaster and a farce.”