Imran Khan foresees Sri Lanka-like situation in Pakistan following 'rigged polls'

• Not engaging in talks with rulers to reach a 'deal': PTI founder.
• Imran Khan foresees 'horse-trading' in upcoming Senate election.
• "Voters took revenge on Feb 8 but 'change via vote' rejected".

Slamming the 2024 nationwide general election once again, incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan has predicted Sri Lanka-like situation in the country as the nation’s hopes were shattered by "stealing the mandate".

“My all predictions have proven true,” the former prime minister said during an informal interaction with journalists in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, in which he reiterated that he was not engaging into talks with the current rulers to reach a "deal".

“Each and everything is based on lies [...] like the election was a lie [...] the security threat was also a lie,” the cricketer-turned-politico said, adding that the PTI was deliberately kept away from the 2024 polls.

Khan, the deposed premier who was removed from power via a parliamentary vote in April 2022, said that the voters took revenge on the polling day but the "change via vote was not accepted”. 

He added that the former ruling party would continue its peaceful protests against the rigging besides approaching the Supreme Court (SC).

He also foresaw ‘horse-trading’ in forthcoming Senate elections, schedule to be held on April 2. The deposed PM alleged that he was not being allowed to meet his lawyers

As Pakistan going to seek final tranche of loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the PTI founder commented that the nation would took to streets after a new wave of inflation.

In another development today, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also arrived at Adiala Jail to meet the party founder.

After meeting Khan during the hearing of £190m NCA scandal today, Barrister Gohar told journalists outside the jail that they submitted a formal request for their meeting with the party founder, but a ban was in place on meetings with inmates at the jail.

He detailed that the party would take a final decision regarding candidates for the upcoming polls in Senate which he also discussed with the PTI founder in which some of them have been ‘finalised’. 

Criticising the incumbent government, Gohar said that some individuals from the former caretaker government have been inducted into the federal cabinet.

The PTI chairman said that they believed in dialogues but his party lawmakers were not being given opportunity to speak on the floor of the parliament. He said that the incumbent government has no moral grounds to rule the country.

Moreover, PTI central leaders Omar Ayub Khan, Sher Afzal Marwat, Shaukat Basra, along with lawyers staged a protest outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) which they advanced towards the Parliament House.

However, the protesting PTI leaders have been stopped from entering Parliament House. Later, only the PTI lawmakers have been permitted to enter parliament.