Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that his party will not form coalition government with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) or the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

In an interview with BBC, he said that he would not partner with the PPP or the PML-N to form a coalition government. “I would prefer to sit on the opposition benches than to form an alliance with the PPP or the PML-N.”

Expanding on the reasons for the decision, Imran said that reforms would not be possible with such a coalition.

“With PPP, PML-N, [plans to] strengthening institutions, campaigning against corruption and improving the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) is not possible,” he said, adding that the two parties had destroyed state institutions. The cricketer-turned-politician went on to say that a hung parliament would be unfortunate for the country at a time when it needed a strong government.

“Hung parliaments are usually weak and Pakistan needs a strong government which can make major decisions to tackle pressing issues like financial crunch,” Imran added.

The PTI chief had on a number of times rejected the possibility of forming a government with the PPP.

He had said in June that setting up a coalition government hampers the implementation of the manifestos of the parties forming the coalition. Separately, Imran Friday said that the United States of America used Pakistan as a “hired gun” and the bilateral relations had always remained one-sided.

Speaking in an interview to Russian TV, the party chief rebuffed the US claim that terrorists had safe havens in Pakistan. When asked what would be his first directive after taking oath as prime minister, Imran said that he would think about his first move after being certain of the win.

The PTI chairman said that he would like to keep the relations with the United States. Imran said that US should be assisted to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan, adding that the war in the neighboring country could only be resolved through a political dialogue. The US must take lesson from Soviet Union that there was no military solution to Afghanistan, he said.

Published in Daily Times, July 21^st 2018.