LAHORE: The PML-N government has spoken its mind about keeping founder leader of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan in jail for its five-year term till 2029 for “economic stability.”

“People come to us and tell us if Pakistan has to progress then Imran Khan will have to be kept in jail for five years,” Federal Planning and Development Minister and PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said while talking to reporters here on Saturday.

He said (if Imran Khan came out of jail) then there would be again sit-ins and fight and the country could not afford this.

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“There is a voice of the people [that] Imran Khan should remain in jail for five years,” he said and added Imran Khan was an “angry man” and it was not known with whom he had a quarrel.

Mr Iqbal said it was a decisive moment for both Pakistan and the PTI.

“It is not possible that talks are held with the PTI on the one hand and on the other it runs a campaign against the state institutions. If Imran Khan wants to hold dialogue with the government he will have to show seriousness,” he said and added Pakistan at the moment needed continuity of the government policies.

Minister appears wary of tussle between judiciary and establishment

The minister indirectly took on the judiciary saying whenever Mr Khan had a difficult time he used the ‘shoulder of the judiciary’ to get relief. Imran Khan was facing serious cases in courts, he claimed.

Imran Khan has been in jail since August last year in different cases. The PML-N leader appeared wary of the ongoing tussle between the judiciary and the establishment.

To a question about confrontation between the judiciary and the military establishment, Iqbal said: “Both should think whether this confrontation is better for the country.”

He said in the past politicians would fight with the establishment and vice versa.

“Now we have to go along together for the sake of the country. We cannot afford fighting with each,” he said and added the country’s sovereignty could have been at stake if “we continued fighting with each other.” He said a congenial environment was required for investment in the country.

Ahsan Iqbal said the government would take forward the CPEC project. “China has always supported Pakistan in crises,” he said and added in the next three years Pakistan would be facing the biggest challenge of debt servicing.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2024