ISLAMABAD: A day after a protest was held outside the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in the US against the alleged rigging in the Feb 8 polls, PTI founder Imran Khan sought high treason proceedings against the officials who purportedly stole the people’s mandate in the general elections.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust case in which his spouse Bushra Bibi, aide Zulfi Bukh­ari, Farah Gogi, and property tycoon Malik Riaz are implicated, the former premier endorsed the demonstration outside the IMF office but distanced himself from the anti-army slogans raised by the protesters.

Imran Khan claimed that his party bagged over 30 million votes whereas the rest of the 17 political parties jointly secured the same number of votes. He added that the PTI took up the irregularities in polls with the IMF and that non-government organisations also pointed out flaws in the electoral process.

First, the PTI was denied its electoral symbol of bat under a conspiracy and then the former ruling party was deprived of its share of reserved seats, the ex-PM said, adding that the theft of the mandate was akin to treason, which attracted Article 6 of the Constitution.

Ex-PM terms Senate polls ‘fixed match’; claims caretakers, ECP were in cahoots in Feb 8 elections; endorses protest outside IMF offices, links dialogue with poll audit

He said the order of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) about reserved seats would be challenged in the Supreme Court, adding that the Election Commission of Pakistan could not allocate PTI’s seats to other political parties.

The PTI founder termed the upcoming Senate polls a ‘fixed match’. He alleged Interior Min­ister Mohsin Naqvi was rewarded for his performance because of his “vindictive approach” towards PTI during his stint as the caretaker chief minister. He said the Feb 8 election was a fixed match in which the “ECP and the caretaker gov­e­rnment were hand in glove”.

According to Imran Khan, the ECP, a few political parties and the establishment “sabotaged the plan to bring in electronic voting”.

In response to a question about whether the ties with the government were healing, Mr Khan replied that reconciliation depended on the fair audit of elections. He, however, expressed apprehensions that he may be convicted in the Al-Qadir Trust case if the Islamabad High Court granted him bail in the cipher and Toshakhana cases.

In a comment on economy, Imran Khan said that the incu­m­bent government was not sus­tainable because of the fragile economy. He rejected the criticism that the PTI left the country on the verge of default.

According to the former premier, the PML-N left a $20bn deficit in 2018 and there was no other option available but to approach the IMF. Mr Khan said the incumbent government had no mandate to carry out structural reforms. He advised the government to seek loans if it could repay the debt.

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Speaking about the meeting between his party’s chief minister and Shehbaz Sharif, the ex-PM said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur should not have had a photo session with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He feared that the Centre would not give KP its due share in funds.

Hearing of the case

During the hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust case, Mr Khan’s counsel concluded the cross-examination of a prosecution witness, who was the chief financial officer of Al-Qadir University.

Accountability judge Nasir Javed Rana also recorded the statement of another prosecution witness.

During the hearing, Mr Khan, Bushra Bibi, her daughter and son-in-law were also present in the courtroom. The case was adjourned till March 20.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2024