ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan has criticised the chief justice of Pakistan for allegedly hurrying to fix the review of a judgem­ent regarding reserved seats, stressing that the PTI’s petition against human rights violations had been pending for mon­ths and yet to be taken up.

Mr Khan also urged the chief justice to recuse himself from hearing PTI-related petitions, citing a conflict of interest due to his spouse’s public statements against the PTI leadership.

Talking to journalists at Adiala Jail, Mr Khan exp­ressed concerns that PTI workers are being tried in military courts and feared that he might also face a court martial in connection with the May 9 cases.

Mr Khan pointed out that the financial crisis has led multinational companies to cease operations in Pakistan, prompting skilled professionals to move abroad to secure their future.

To a question about rumours of a technocrat set-up possibly taking effect from October, Mr Khan dismissed the idea and stressed that it was better to impose martial law, adding that the country was already being governed through an “unannounced martial law”.

He insisted that the PTI never supported a technocrat set-up, emphasising that free and fair elections are the only solution to the country’s ongoing economic instability.

The former premier said that those who think a technocrat set-up would bring Pakistan out of crisis “live in a fool’s paradise”. He also claimed he had been detained in a cell adjacent to hardened criminals.

He also criticised the PML-N government for signing agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) at exorbitant rates, which he claimed have caused electricity costs to spiral out of control. Mr Khan also decried the attack on PTI’s secretariat and the arrests of party workers.

In response to a question regarding his statement on the Bannu incident, which apparently contradicted the stance of the Khyber Pakhtu­nkhwa government, Mr Khan said he didn’t know what was happening outside since he was in prison.

Separately, PTI’s secretary general has filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court against the blockage of the party’s official website. The petition, citing the interior and IT ministries and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as respondents, argued that the website, established in 2000, provided the general public with information about PTI activities.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2024