Imran says consulting lawyers to prosecute Shehbaz, Nawaz confab on army chief

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday stated that they would consult with their lawyers to legally prosecute Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for possibly disclosing secret information to unauthorized personnel during a party confab in London last week.

This was stated during an address by Imran via video link to the gathered crowds in Mandi Bahaduddin and Jaranwala on Monday.

Speaking from his mansion in Lahore’s Zaman Town, Imran once again criticized Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for traveling to London for a crucial Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) confab to deliberate on critical challenges facing the country and to consult the deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other senior party members on who would be the next army chief of the country and when next general elections should be held.

Noting that this was a critical discussion that was held with someone who has been convicted by the courts of the country and absconding in a foreign country and that the constitution did not have any provision to allow this.

“This is a violation of the official secrets act,” Imran claimed, adding that he was in talks with his legal team on mounting a legal pursuit against the government’s actions.

He further asked why

Reiterating that his movement was to restore justice in the country for the everyday person, he lamented that the current state of justice in the country was such that he, as a victim of an assassination attempt, could not register an FIR against the people he thought were responsible.

“Maybe an investigation later clears them,” Imran said matter-of-factly, adding that it was still his right to nominate the people he thinks are responsible when registering an FIR.

“Police in Punjab are under me, but they did not listen to me,” he added.

He added that today (Monday), parliamentarians aligned with the PTI, had signed and submitted requests in the Supreme Court registries across the country, calling on the apex court to register the FIR (or modify the existing FIR) to include names of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior military officer.

Other issues raised in the petition, Imran said, was for the Supreme Court to hear the pleas of Senator Azam Swati over the excesses of the security forces while detaining him, including custodial torture.

“I only have hope from the Supreme Court (SC) to impartially investigate the matter,” he said.

Imran further urged the top court to investigate the murder of Arshad Sharif.

The last thing Imran addressed was the volte face on his stance on the US over what he had accused them of “interference” to overthrow his government.

We want to be friends with everyone but do not want to be someone’s slave.

Which wise person would want enmity with anyone.

“In all my 26 years (of politics) I have always called for having good ties with everyone,” he said, adding I want good ties with China and Russia, but do not want to be slaves of anyone.

Imran went on to bemoan how he had been misquoted by certain media and that a propaganda cell was propagating cherry picked bits of the interview and that the journalists who had interviewed him had to clarify what had been said.

He however, reiterated that the US diplomat Donald Lu had interfered in Pakistan’s internal affairs.

“I want good ties with countries not enemies. The better the quality of our ties, the more we would be able to trade.”