PTI Chairman Imran Khan rejects NA return, attend ECP proceedings

• Imran Khan claims his long march will be largest ever in country's political history. 
• Hints at his readiness to participate in general election under current ECP.
• Says public support for PTI was so huge that manipulation of election results would not be possible. 

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday refused to go back to the National Assembly or attend the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) proceedings, The News reported. 

Khan's comments came while talking to the journalists at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House. PTI Secretary General Asad Umar, Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Shibli Faraz were also present.

Speaking about the party's long march, the former prime minister said that his gathering will be the largest ever in the country’s political history. 

Khan said that while the government’s plan to stop the marchers was known to all, his plan is known to a few and will be shared in the coming days.

The PTI chief hinted at his readiness to participate in the general election under the current election commission but accused the chief election commissioner of having no moral ground to stick to the office after his audio leaks.

“His [CEC] collusion stands exposed now and his bias towards PTI is visible from day one,” he alleged. About his expectation with regard to various cases against him pending with the ECP, Imran said he was sure the decision will be against him, as the CEC was just a tool being used.

On the contempt of ECP case against him, Imran contended that the commission was not a court of law. “How is it possible that the ECP indulges in malpractices, and reacts to criticism with the issuance of controversial contempt notices,” he remarked.

He again criticised the electoral body for not hearing foreign funding cases against the PTI, PML-N and PPP together, and claimed while his party managed its funds transparently, both PML-N and PPP had failed to even disclose their sources of funding.

“They in fact run their parties on the money received in kickbacks and commissions,” he alleged. Imran strongly opposed the ECP’s move to bar dual nationals from becoming a member of a political party, saying, “Ten million overseas Pakistanis are an invaluable asset to Pakistan. The proposed move to amend Rule 157 (2) of the Election Rules is meant to punish the expatriates for their love and support to PTI”.

Sounding extremely optimistic, Imran predicted a massive change in the country’s political landscape following the general elections and claimed his party will sweep the polls despite all political engineering, and claimed that Sindh will witness the biggest revolution where the PPP’s victory this time was impossible.

The PTI chief said the public support for PTI was so huge that manipulation of election results would not be possible. To rig the forthcoming elections, one would need political engineering of the scale that the system would not be able to sustain, he added.

To a question about Toshakhana cases against him, Imran claimed what he did was strictly within the ambit of law. He demanded an open hearing of the Toshakhana case against him in the ECP.

Responding to a question, Khan claimed his party could have won the 2018 general election by a thumping majority had the results not been changed and the right candidates fielded by the party.

“This is why we have been advocating the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) which can address the majority of irregularities in the electoral exercises. The idea of introducing EVMs had been opposed by PML-N and PPP and the forces which wanted political engineering,” he contended.

To another question, Imran said the process for appointment of chief election commissioner, chairman NAB and caretaker governments was flawed and needed to be replaced with a merit-based mechanism. Khan expressed confidence that he will win the by-election in all the nine NA constituencies despite all attempts to steal the polls.