CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Saturday said ousted prime minister Imran Khan had concocted the foreign conspiracy theory of regime change to prevent the people from discussing the performance of his government.

“The regime change theory was cooked up to divert attention from the performance of the ousted government,” he said, adding the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader was inciting the youth to violence and pushing the country towards anarchy.

Addressing a gathering in Shabqadar tehsil, he said the former prime minister was trying to drag state institutions into politics, which was evident from his remarks in his recent podcast interview.

“He has punctured his so-called narrative by admitting that opposition had started making efforts in July last year to bring down his government through the no-trust motion. So, his foreign conspiracy theory does not hold water anymore,” he said and added the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) ousted Imran Khan from power through the no-confidence motion as per the provisions of the Constitution.

“Imran Khan has yet to come to terms with the reality that he was no more the prime minister so he is trying to trigger a constitutional crisis,” he said, adding that besides former deputy speaker National Assembly, the president of Pakistan and Punjab governor were also deviating from their constitutional roles.

Aftab Sherpao said Imran Khan was bent upon straining Pakistan’s relations with other countries in an effort to hide his failure. He also questioned Imran Khan’s efforts to defend his alleged front-woman Farah Gogi.

“Why is Imran Khan defending her if she is innocent? She should return to the country and get her name cleared,” he pointed out.

He said the PTI government had added to the woes of the people. “The people were fed up with Imran Khan’s rule. He had no plan to deliver,” he maintained.

He said the Imran Khan’s government did not honour the pledges about the provision of funds to the merged districts. He said the PTI’s provincial government was also dragging its feet to secure the rights of the province.

Aftab Sherpao also asked the newly-formed coalition government to address the issue of gas and electricity loadshedding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the residents of the province were facing prolonged electricity loadshedding.

He added the QWP wanted fresh election at the earliest after introducing electoral reforms to ensure the holding of free, fair and transparent polls.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2022