LAHORE: A night before Friday’s run-off election for the Punjab chief minister, PTI chairman Imran Khan urged the masses to take to the streets if they see the government, state machinery or “neutrals” (a term he uses to refer to the establishment) attempting to snatch the public mandate during the process.

“Any violence unleashed by the state machinery to steal public mandate will lead the country to a Sri Lanka-like situation,” he said, adding that he won’t be able to control people if any element tried to steal public mandate,” he stressed. He was addressing a mass protest demonstration at Liberty Roundabout through a video link on Thursday night.

Imran Khan said PPP leader Asif Zardari was in Lahore trying to pose as a kingmaker, when he should be languishing in jail. He alleged the “looters” were using ill-gotten money to buy the conscience of lawmakers, and alleged that one of his MPAs was bribed and sent to Turkiye.

The former prime minister further said the PTI and PML-Q had lodged their 186 MPAs at a local hotel fearing the state might pick them up and detain them in cases registered against unidentified people, to block their presence in the Punjab Assembly for voting for the chief minister.

Claims govt may ‘pick up’ MPAs to hamper Elahi’s election; warns ‘neutrals’ against snatching his party’s mandate

He reiterated that “three stooges” — Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman — were instrumental in the alleged foreign conspiracy to topple the PTI government through a no-confidence motion, and claimed that even PML-N MNA Javed Latif had admitted they were pushed to move the resolution.

Apprehending that they would go all out in efforts to ‘buy’ PTI MPAs, the former premier warned state institutions against trying to create a May 25-like situation.

CM poll strategy

Earlier, Mr Khan chaired a joint PTI and PML-Q parliamentary party meeting as well as holding separate meetings with MPAs in groups to discuss the strategy for Friday’s session where he aims to get their candidate, Mr Elahi, elected chief minister.

Mr Khan lauded the MPAs for standing tall despite all odds, amid pressure from the PML-N government.

Separately, PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi called on Elahi at his residence here and held a detailed consultation on the strategy regarding the election today, and the tactics that could be employed by the government to create disturbance.

Mr Elahi said the vindictive tactics of the federal and the Punjab governments were condemnable, adding that any attempt to undermine people’s mandate would not be tolerated.

Mr Qureshi said the public fully supported Imran Khan’s narrative in the by-elections and taught the turncoats (PTI defectors) a lesson.

Moonis Elahi, MNA Hussain Elahi, MPAs Basharat Raja and Zain Qureshi also attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2022