Daily Times

Ousted premier Imran Khan was Wednesday elected as chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for another term. He was elected unopposed by the PTI’s National Council that met Wednesday to elect central and provincial office-bearers. Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was elected vice chairman and Asad Umar secretary general. Addressing the council, Imran called upon the party members to be prepared for the party’s upcoming protest march towards Islamabad, “the date of which,” Khan said, “would be announced very soon.” Imran added that the party was consulting legal experts to keep the protest within the rights granted in the Constitution, says a news report.

“We have [filed an application with] the Supreme Court and as soon as we get clearance from the court, I will announce the date,” said Khan.

However, the apex court has already returned the PTI’s petition to stop the government from using force against the party’s leaders and workers who want to hold “peaceful protest.” Earlier this month, the SC registrar raised three objections to the petition, which he said, carried “scandalous matter.”

Talking about his government’s ouster through a no-confidence motion, Khan said the real intention behind the move was to discredit the Parliament and exert influence over state institutions. He added that currently, there was no opposition in the Parliament.

“The current opposition leader is aspiring for their [PML-N’s] ticket in the next election,” Khan said.

He added that after discrediting the Parliament, the government took control of the Election Commission. “Everyone has lost faith in the ECP. They did delimitations with mala fide intentions. There are complaints from everywhere.”