Military ‘trying to prevent victory’ for Imran’s party

Pakistan’s former prime minister and leader of the opposition PTI, Imran Khan, has alleged that the military is trying to prevent his party from winning the next election. This is paving the way for a weak government. He made this complaint in an interview given to the US media Bloomberg on Friday. Khan cited pressure from the government and the military to arrest its supporters, saying it was seeking to “crush” his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ahead of elections due in mid-October. Imran Khan was forced to leave power after losing the no-confidence vote in the Parliament last year. However, recent surveys have shown that Imran Khan and his team are at the peak of popularity. Imran Khan was arrested from the court premises on May 9. Later, the lower court granted him bail on the orders of the Supreme Court. Imran’s supporters staged protests and vandalism in various cities of Pakistan for two days to protest against his arrest. There were attacks even inside the cantonment. In these incidents, the government started arresting various levels of leaders and supporters of Imran Khan’s party. However, Imran Khan claimed that those who attacked the cantonment were not supporters of PTI. Noting that the government will announce the election date only after it is confirmed that the PTI will not win the elections, Imran Khan said, “It all depends on the feeling of the military that the PTI will not be able to win the elections.” The government will announce the election only if they are confirmed.