PTI develops strategy against targeting of Imran Khan by non-political state actors

• PTI says court proceedings against Khan angered people.
• Designs of trampling will of people will fail just, says PTI.
• Party stresses it won't tolerate any delay in elections.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) core committee has developed a comprehensive strategy against the targeting of its Chairman Imran Khan by alleged undemocratic, unconstitutional and non-political state actors, reported The News on Tuesday.

According to the publication, when the PTI’s top decision-making body met, it reviewed court proceedings against Khan which it believes has caused frustration and anger among the people and damaged its chairman’s popularity. 

The committee also vowed to strongly counter the “reprehensible attempts” to speed up trials to punish the deposed prime minister — who was ousted via a no-confidence motion in April last year — and heap reserved judgments to deprive him of justice.

The party also condemned the recovery of the PTI’s former central additional secretary general Ali Nawaz Awan from the drawing room of the “King’s Party” after more than two weeks of forced disappearance.

Recently, Jahangir Tareen's newly-formed Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) announced that Awan as joined his party ahead of the February 8 polls.

“State functionaries, who are running a vicious cycle of kidnapping for statements and violating the sanctity of politics and democracy are pushing Pakistan towards decline,” the PTI core committee said.

The body claimed that the “state’s madness” against PTI — “country’s most popular political party” — was provoking the people to react strongly by insulting fundamental rights and the right to representation.

“The nefarious designs of trampling on the will of the people and settling the corridors of power with ‘ponies’ reared in the state stables will fail just as they have failed for the last 18 months,” the core committee said.

The meeting also reviewed alleged systematic efforts to delay the general elections, saying, “We are well aware of the objectives of the deliberate campaign to postpone the elections by various quarters”.

The PTI vowed that it would not tolerate any delay in the free, fair and transparent conduct of elections, as the Supreme Court has declared February 8, 2024, as a “line on the stone” regarding the conduct of elections, should take notice of the secret and public efforts to postpone.

“The apex court should take notice of the ongoing series of pre-election rigging and ensure that the elections are held as per the criteria laid down in the Constitution on February 8,” it said and strongly condemned the denial of permission to various workers and officials to meet Khan despite the court’s permission.

It approved the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against jail authorities and welcomed new members included in the core committee with the formal approval of Chairman Imran Khan.