Rana Sanaullah rules out possibility of technocrat govt

• Interior minister denies receiving any message about interim setup. 
• Says PTI engineers narratives to create political instability. 
• Fawad Chaudhry calls technocrat setup call a joke. 

Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) attempt to build up the narrative of a potential technocrat setup is aimed at stoking political instability and uncertainty, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said.

It was stated by the federal minister while responding to a statement of PTI Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry, who had earlier said: "It's a joke to bring a government of technocrats for two-and-a-half years."

Fawad, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, emphasised that the "unelected people" cannot resolve the problems facing the country, by simply importing some technocrats from the United States.

Speaking in Geo News programme 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada kay Sath' on Wednesday, Sanaullah snubbed Fawad's statement, saying the establishment neither approached the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nor the PTI in connection with the technocrat setup.

"Imran Khan concocts new stories every other day; however, no message regarding the technocrat government was conveyed," he added.

He stated that the institution has pledged to the nation that it will remain apolitical. From now on, whatever happens, will be in line with the Constitution, he added. 

The PML-N-led government is making all-out efforts to put the economy back on track, he said. The solution to the current problems is the charter of economy, not elections, he asserted. 

'Technocrat setup under consideration'

PTI chief Imran Khan Khan, who was removed from premiership through a vote of no-confidence in April this year, claimed that the proposal regarding a government of technocrats is under consideration.

Speaking to senior journalists in Lahore, Imran stressed that he doesn't foresee polls being conducted soon. "I don't see elections happening now. There is hearsay about a technocrat government being brought forward," he said. 

For the past several months, Khan has been demanding snap polls. His stance intensified after his party's "Haqeeqi Azadi" march came to an end last month and he announced that the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies would be dissolved.

However, PTI's members of the national and provincial assemblies have yet to process their resignations.

Fawad rejects technocrat govt

In a press conference, Fawad noted that Pakistan's politics is barren without Imran Khan.

It is a joke to form a technocrat government for two and a half years after wrapping up this government home, he said. "Experimenting and playing jokes with Pakistan should come to an end now," he said.  

"You will bring 'imported technocrats' from the US if the Shehbaz Sharif-helmed government is not functioning," he said. "The solution to the country's problems is holding elections."

The PTI leader said that the establishment committed a mistake by sending the most competent government home and imposing clowns on the people.

Imran Khan is the only leader whose hands are not stained with the blood of Afghans, Fawad said. The only leader who commands respect in Afghanistan is Imran Khan, he maintained.

The PTI leader said, "Pakistan will be affected if the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, given the fact that we cannot fight all the time."