RAWALPINDI: Days before the general elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was stripped of its electoral symbol—the bat—by a Supreme Court (SC) order. Speaking on Monday, Imran Khan, the founder of the former ruling party, stated that a “umpire gave a no-ball.”
Speaking to reporters at Adiala Jail, Khan said that he was incarcerated as a result of the “London Plan” and that efforts were made to destroy the PTI through a secret agreement.
Khan has previously made repeated claims that a “agreement” had been written in London specifying that he would be imprisoned, his party would be destroyed, and Nawaz Sharif would receive a clean sheet.
Launching a new attack on Sharif, the imprisoned PTI founder said that the former leader of the PML-N always chose the umpires for his matches, saying, “The day before yesterday, an umpire gave a no-ball.”
In reference to the purported plot’s execution, the ousted prime minister declared that “all the cases against Sharif have been ended.”
Khan claimed that no one was prepared to hold the PML-N supremo, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, Asif Ali Zardari, liable for obtaining bulletproof vehicles from the Tosha Khana. Any electoral partnership with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was rejected by him.
Khan made the following prediction while speaking at the event: “Something very bad is going to happen to them.” He insisted that the cipher case be tried in public so that everyone could see the evidence. “They inquire as to why I failed to keep the cipher secret.”
However, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi declared that the candidates from his party would run as “independent candidates” in the next elections.
The PTI leader made reference to the Supreme Court’s ruling during an unofficial conversation with reporters in the same court, saying, “The entire nation saw what sort of a level playing field the PTI received.”
He claimed that when his daughter went for inspection, someone stole her nomination paperwork. Qureshi said she was forced to leave her hometown.
“We acknowledge the court’s decision. History will undoubtedly record the Supreme Court’s decision [on the PTI electoral emblem].
In response to a question, Qureshi stated that the country’s free and fair elections were the PTI founder’s only demand. According to him, the PTI intra-party polls drew criticism from the ECP, but the electoral body said nothing about the elections held by other political parties.