Imran reiterates won't take oath from President Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday reiterated his resolve of not to take oath from the incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari if he was elected prime minister of the country.

"Asif Zardari was a creation of NRO, which was unconstitutional and the constitution did not allow him to take from such person" said he talking to media here.

Speaking at a press conference along with Nawab of Bahawalpur, Salahuddin Abbasi, here on Tuesday, Imran Khan said that PTI and Bahawalpur Awami National Party (BANP) had agreed to forge electoral alliance as both the parties were opposed to the status quo and no one could raise finger at the long political career of the leadership of both the parties.

PTI leaders Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Jahangir Khan Tareen, Naeem-ul-Haq, Malik Amin Aslam, Faisal Javed Khan and BNAP leader Farooq Azam Malik were also present on the occasion.

Imran Khan said that PTI and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) had yet to final a seat-adjustment formula, however, he disclosed that the JI leadership had been conveyed that they would have to either choose PTI or
Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) for seat-adjustment arrangement.

He made it clear that the PTI would prefer to leave the seats vacant rather than allocating party tickets to candidates with tainted past, adding that the PTI had become the Party of ideological people.

“The PTI would announce its political manifesto within days, wherein the redressal of each and every issue has been detailed,” he mentioned.

Referring to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Imran Khan said that he had enjoyed the coalition government of Zardari and company for three years and when the government was about to complete its five-year term, he jumped the ship and joined hands with Nawaz Sharif.

“He also opposed my repeated demands of holding talks with the Taliban. But with election only two weeks away, he convened All Parties Conference (APC) to mock the much thorny issue of war on terror, which was a joke with the nation”.

To a question about possible electoral alliance with Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri-led party Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), Imran Khan said that Qadri’s party was not contesting election so the question of electoral alliance did only arise.

However, Imran Khan said that Dr Qadri wanted a change through staging sit-ins, while the PTI was of firm belief that a change could only take place through ballot, hoping that the upcoming election would bring a real change in the country, as it would put an end on the dynastic and family-limited political parties once and for all.

However, he said that keeping in view the need of rising population, it was need of an hour to constitute small units, as Switzerland was smaller than Lahore, but it had 25 provinces.

Khan also said that some status quo forces were claiming that tsunami was dying down with the retirement of General (Retd) Pasha, adding he said that they were wrong.

“The PTI’s March 23 mammoth gathering was bigger than October 30 rally and the real super tsunami would be witnessed in Mingora and other parts of Pakistan,” he added.

Imran Khan said he would like to make a request to the caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso to ensure holding fair, free and transparent elections, otherwise no one be spared of the public wrath.

He said that the PTI strongly believed in integrity of Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahim.

Speaking on the occasion, Nawab Salahuddin said that he and Imran Khan were pursuing the same agenda for change and their fight was against the status quo forces and that was the reason that they were
joining hands to defeat those forces for better.

He said that all the state institutions were on the verge of a collapse and only Imran Khan was a leader who could steer the country out of the prevailing crises. (PPI)