Pakistan is preparing to go to war... - Imran Khan's warning
Key Takeaways:
- If the Shehbaz Sharif-led administration, which was sworn in after the former president was removed, does not convene a new general election soon, Imran Khan has threatened 'civil war.'
- At Imran Khan's request, Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Asif, revealed that some of those who marched on Islamabad were armed with automatic rifles and other weapons.
Ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has threatened 'civil war' if the Shehbaz Sharif-led government, which was sworn in after the former president was deposed, does not call a new general election soon. Imran Khan told Bol News that he was awaiting the ruling of the Pakistan Supreme Court on a petition by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to safeguard demonstrators who had marched to the capital Islamabad sparking violent violence and skirmishes with police and security forces along the way. Khan stated he would announce the date of the next protest march, which will call for a general election.
"We'll see if they let us go to elections through legal as well as constitutional procedures, or else this country would devolve into civil war," he said, according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.
Imran Khan also likened the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to the mafia, telling Bol News that the PML-N committed things that would be unthinkable even in a dictatorship.
Khan further stated that returning to his nation's National Assembly was "out of the question" since doing so would imply "accepting the conspiracy" that had deposed his Government.
After his Government lost a no-confidence vote, Prime Minister Imran Khan was forced to resign. Khan has since alleged that his Government is being overthrown by a foreign conspiracy hatched in the US with the support of the current Pakistani Government.
These allegations have been refuted by both the US and the Sharif Pak government.
Last week, Khan called for a big army of his supporters to march on Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, but the march was put off following meetings with three persons, including a retired general; all three people who met with Imran Khan did so on behalf of Pakistan's powerful army, according to Dawn.
On Monday, Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Asif, said that some of those who marched on Islamabad were armed with automatic rifles and other weapons at Imran Khan's request.