Imran Khan, former prime minister and the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), claimed that the new military leadership’s “experiment of regime change has failed.”
In an interview with the US station Voice of America, he stated, “I’m confident among the new military leadership there is a sense that this experiment of regime transition has gone badly.”
Despite previously having a tight relationship with the military, the nation’s most powerful institution, Khan fell out with the army after his departure from office in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April.
The PTI leader said that all of the military’s policies in Pakistan are decided by one person in response to a query about his connection with the army in his capacity as prime minister.
“In Pakistan, “military” refers to the army leader. Therefore, one man’s personality determines the military’s entire strategy for dealing with the civilian administration.
The former prime minister continued by saying that having the “organised strength of the Pakistan Army to help us” benefited his connection with General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the then-army chief.
He claimed that Pakistan’s effective response to COVID-19 was evidence of the influence of this connection. He asserted that Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the then-head of the army, had planned to depose him from office with the assistance of his political rivals.
Washington, Pakistan’s military, and the administration have unfailingly refuted this accusation.
Khan added that the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, was able to resume its operations due to the security forces’ incompetence. Despite accusing it of plotting his overthrow, he expressed that military will stop interfering in politics and would forge positive ties with Washington, according to VOA.
The PTI leader expressed his thoughts on his desire for general elections and claimed that holding “free and fair elections is not possible anymore” since the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has lost its reputation as an impartial electoral authority.