ISLAMABAD: Amid rep­orts that ex-premier Imran Khan had met an important personality at the President House recently, the Pakis­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chair­man on Saturday refused to confirm or deny the meeting.

“I don’t lie and cannot share the truth,” he said, in a cryptic response to a question posed to him by anchorperson Maria Memon during an interview aired on ARY News.

Earlier, there had been speculation that Mr Khan had a meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the Presid­ency last month. Reportedly, both personalities could not reach an agreement during the meeting, arranged by President Arif Alvi, but Mr Khan toned down his rhetoric pertaining to the establishment after the meeting.

Speaking about the upcoming march of the PTI towards Islamabad, Mr Khan said the date for the march would be announced within a week. He said Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi was an ally of the PTI and he would support the party in its march on Islamabad.

About the controversial cipher, the ex-premier said he had not made the cipher public at once because at the time, the OIC meeting was in progress and it would have been inappropriate to share the cipher then.

Referring to the audio leaks featuring himself and PTI leaders, Mr Khan said it was strange that the prime minister’s conversations, which should be safe, were being made public. He also commented on the acquittal of Maryam Nawaz in the Avenfield case against her and called it a “joke”.

About the departure of for­­mer premier Nawaz Sha­rif to London during his government on health grounds, Imran Khan commented that when Nawaz Sharif went out of the country, he came to realise that “everything was possible” in Pakistan. He said it was part of a “big game” to send Nawaz Sharif out of Pak­­istan. “Unfortu­na­tely our justice system is weak due to which these people are benefitting,” he said in a comment on the cases agai­nst his political opponents.

To another question, he said he did nothing wrong in the Toshakhana case pending against him in the ECP. It merits mentioning that Mr Khan sold the state gifts and failed to disclose their value in his annual tax returns.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2022