LAHORE: Challenging his political rivals to face him in elections, PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday reminded them that when the “establishment is with you, and so is election commission, then why [do you] run away from elections”.

Addressing the launch of election campaign and 27th foundation day of the party through a video link address on Tuesday, Mr Khan recalled that he had faced allegations of being “selected” after winning the 2018 elections. “Now the selectors are with you, face me in elections,” he added.

On the occasion, Mr Khan announced that his party would have won elections and brought the country out of economic mess before its next foundation day.

Drawing on his 27-year political journey, the PTI chairman said the first 15 years were really tough when his party was a laughing stock for most of the ‘electables’. “When the party was launched in 1996, it miserably lost elections in 1997, without even a single seat. In 2002, it managed to win only one seat and most of the political pundits predicted its death as most of the early birds flew out of the PTI nest. In 2008, it boycotted elections and political pundits thought the party is finished. However, by 2010, party ideology started seeping in and people started responding to its narrative.

Sees PTI’s sweeping elections and Pakistan out of financial crisis before April next year

“The 2011 rally at Minar-i-Pakistan proved to be a turning point when the PTI saw a political rise. In 2013, the party won substantial National Assembly seats and formed the KP government as more and more electables started considering it as a serious contender for power. It won the 2018 elections and the rest is history.”

Rule of law

Calling rule of law his ideology, Mr Khan said: “This is what I have pursued during the last 27 years and would continue doing so because it is a make or break philosophy for nations. All those countries, which called themselves developed, are the ones that are placed high on rule of law index. Unless Pakistan achieves that kind of indexation on the world map, it would not be able to come out of its current morass, created by the corrupt set of rulers who benefit from its absence. I started the party with this single aim, christened it after the same objective and am still pursuing it — and promise to continue doing it.”

Pakistan, which was placed at 117 out of 126 on global index of overall rule of law in 2019, ranked 129 out of 140 on the rule of law index last year.

Mr Khan said the country was on the reverse path as far as the rule of law was concerned. “The ruling elite destroyed the institutions meant for rule of law because only then it can steal national resources and stash them abroad. The current system rewards theft and punishes honesty. This has been going on for the last 75 years. This is the cycle PTI wants to break when it returns to power after next elections.”

During his speech, Mr Khan did not forget to take a dig at former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, saying it was he who had granted NRO to the ‘thieves’ and imposed them on the nation.

“With umpires on the side of the imposed thieves, they still cannot muster courage to go for elections, because they know popular wrath would spell electoral disaster for them,” he said, claiming that only the PTI could help Pakistan achieve this necessary objective of rule of law and deal with current financial crisis.

“There are over 10 million overseas Pakistanis with a capacity to invest. If the PTI is able to convince even half a million of them to invest in Pakistan, the country would be able to jump out of current financial bind. They trust the PTI because they know it stands for the rule of law and will ensure equality of law. They know only the PTI can provide the enabling environment for business and economy.

“By the time PTI celebrates its foundation day next year, it would have won elections and brought Pakistan out of economic mess,” he added.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2023