LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for conferring with his elder brother Nawaz Sharif, who was sentenced in two graft cases by an accountability court, on the appointment of the next army chief and termed this consultation a violation of the Official Secrets Act.

The former premier made these remarks while addressing long march rallies in Mandi Bahauddin, Jarranwala, and Charsadda through video link from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.

During his address, the PTI chairman said he could not imagine that an “absconder and a convict” was deciding on key issues pertaining to snap elections in the country and the appointment of the next army chief.

Lambasting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for discussing the “sensitive” matters with the elder Sharif who is in London owing to purported health reasons since 2019, Mr Khan said the premier was violating the Official Secrets Act.

PTI chairman claims Punjab police being ‘controlled from somewhere else’

“The PTI is consulting its lawyers about how Pakistan’s most sensitive decisions could be taken by a convict who has no stakes in Pakistan,” Mr Khan added. The PTI chairman said the “convict” was delaying fresh general elections not for the country’s sake but for himself.

Amid poor economic conditions, the only way out for the country is to hold immediate general elections, he said, adding that political stability will result in economic stability as well.

He added that the tragedy was that the country was being ruled by those, who were “busy looting and saving their money” allegedly earned through corruption.

The former prime minister said PTI parliamentarians and senators had submitted petitions with the Supreme Court and its registries to take immediate action on three serious issues – torture and humiliation of Senator Azam Swati, the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif, and the registration of an FIR of the Wazirabad attack as per the information provided by the PTI.

Mr Khan urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take “serious notice of these sensitive issues” and implement rule of law in the country that would eventually offer justice to every citizen and bring prosperity.

Referring to his 26 years of struggle for the implementation of rule of law and justice, the former prime minister regretted that Pakistan “was still being ranked at 129th position” in the comity of nations on the globe. He said there would be no prosperity without implementing the rule of law.

Mr Khan lamented that despite being a former prime minister he could not get an FIR registered against the three accused and the situation became more embarrassing that the PTI alongside PML-Q was ruling in Punjab but its “police were being controlled from somewhere else”.

Addressing the Chief Justice of Pakistan, he said the nations progressed only when they ensure rule of law and justice in their societies. He said some 10 million Pakistanis were living and working abroad and earning an annual income equal to the amount earned by 220 million people in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2022