Imran feels general elections will be held this year

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday reiterated that it is his firm belief that the next general elections will be held this year, as hundreds of employees who wanted renewal of their contracts without appearing in test marred his news conference.
Briefing media persons here at the party’s central secretariat after chairing the core committee meeting, Imran said that it was his ‘gut feeling’ that the findings of the judicial commission would be such that the general elections would be held this year.
Imran said they had 126,000 documents regarding rigging in 74 constituencies in the 2013 elections that would be presented before the commission on Tuesday next. He was responding to a question about Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s remarks on the PTI’s stance that rigging proof were lying in polling bags.
About Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmad-led election tribunal, he contended that they had accepted its order but there was a difference of opinion with Wajihuddin that without the issuance of intra-party polls schedule, how the caretakers could be appointed. “I can’t run the party alone,” he said. Imran said they respected the retired justice.
Imran, who was flanked by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jehangir Tareen, Dr Shireen Mazari and other party leaders, conceded that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had fairly won in NA-246 by-polls but alleged that their candidate Imran Ismail was harassed during the polls campaign.
The PTI chief noted that there was an air of fear in Karachi, which needed to be eliminated and action should be taken against target killers without any discrimination. He recalled that a decision was made in the all parties conference that action would be taken against the target killers, as the country was weary and wanted peace.
He pointed out that because of fear, investors and traders were fleeing from Pakistan and property worth Rs430 billion had been purchased in Dubai alone, which included one which belonged to corrupt politicians.
Imran lamented that while prices of all items of daily use were going up, farmers were not getting fair price of their commodity, particularly in Punjab and Sindh and after rice growers, now wheat farmers were also not getting bags for their crop.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he alleged, had appointed someone as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PAC) for his role in electoral rigging. Imran added that Najam Sethi could not bring about improvement in cricket, as this could be done only be someone, who understood it.
About the PTI’s poor performance in local bodies polls in cantonments in Rawalpindi and Lahore, Imran said it was good that this exercise was held before local bodies polls, as this would help them learn from their mistakes.
About the reports of change in the original route of Pak-China Economic Corridor, Imran said the route via Dera Ismail Khan was short and had he been the prime minister, he would have opted for it, saying taking a decision on this issue, the entire country should be kept in kind.
Imran’s news conference was marred by noisy protest by scores of employees of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Workers Welfare Fund outside the party’s head office. Some of them even forced their entry into the lawn of the office, leaving Imran to hold his news conference at the terrace.
The echo of their loud sloganeering could be heard during the news conference. Hundreds of employees have been staging a sit-in outside Imran’s residence at Bani Gala for several weeks for the acceptance of their demands. The PTI chairman had to chair the previous core committee meeting at the head office through video conferencing while sitting at his residence, it was learnt.
Protestors chanted slogans against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Shah Farman, who Imran said had held three meetings with them besides Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak’s meeting with them, who wanted them to go through the process of test prior to extension in their contract.
Imran claimed that a former provincial minister had received heavy amount to recruit incapable persons in the department without subjecting them to appear in test. The PTI chief wondered how could they be allowed to play with the future of young generation.
He pointed out the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had also asked for making test mandatory before extending their contractual term.After his news conference, Imran could not go away, as several protestors blocked the way of his vehicle, forcing him to return to the office again. However, after some time, he managed to go back to his residence without holding talks with the protestors, who then shouted slogans against the PTI and Imran.