ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday while daring the oppositionparties on immediate resignations, predicted that majority of their membersof National and provincial assemblies would not tender resignations.
“I invite them to resign today instead of tomorrow. I am predicting thatmajority of them [members of assemblies] will not resign,” Imran Khan saidin an interview with a private television channel (Samaa News).
The prime minister further said he was waiting rather praying for theirresignations. “If they resign, it will be better for Pakistan,” he remarked.
Imran Khan said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) could do whatever itwanted, as the government was ready for everything.
“Whatever they do, they will make their own loss like they did at theMinar-e-Pakistan,” he remarked.
The prime minister described the PDM’s December 13 public meeting a “flopshow” and said the people of Lahore did not come out and most of theparticipants comprised students of religious seminaries or those attractedby the offers of ‘Naan and Biryani’.
“They were claiming to gather a sea of people at the Minar-e-Pakistan,”Imran Khan remarked and offered to facilitate the PDM in their plannedsit-in in Islamabad. “But they will not be able to achieve theirobjective,” he added.
The prime minister also dared the PDM to stage even a week-long sit-in theFederal Capital, saying after holding a 126 days sit-in in Islamabad he hadbecome a “Dharna Specialist”.
“If they sustain even a week-long sit-in, he will start thinking ofresignation,” he said in response to a question.
About the Senate elections, the prime minister said the polls could be held30 days prior to the expiry of tenure of the present members.
As far as the procedure of open ballot or show of hands was concerned, hesaid, the government would approach the Supreme Court for interpretation ofthe relevant clauses of law.
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He said as it was a well known fact that the people indulged in corruptionthrough use of money in the Senate elections, the government’s intentionwas to check such malpractices in election of Upper House of Parliament.
“If a member of Senate is elected through corruption, how and what he willcontribute in the legislation process?” he remarked.
To a question, the prime minister categorically rejected the reports of hiscabinet member’s visit to Tel Aviv as “totally incorrect” and “fake news”and said it was part of India’s disinformation campaign recently exposed byEU DisinfoLab.
“It is totally incorrect. When we have a policy that we will not recognizeIsrael, why a minister will go there? And what he will do there? It is fakenews,” he added.
The prime minister said a full-fledged campaign was being run and theEuropean Union DisinfoLab had recently exposed the whole Indian network.
Some Pakistani nationals were also involved in the network [ofdisinformation] and were feeding them from here, he added.
“Uproar is going on in the country [by the opposition parties] for the lasttwo years.., the voices of all is bad,” the prime minister remarked andquestioned “Did no good thing happened [during this period?”
He lamented that nobody [from the opposition side] was telling that thecountry’s economy had come on a takeoff position.
“If the stock exchange is moving upward, it shows the confidence ofinvestors and businessmen,” he said and again questioned, “Can anybody takethe stock market up by force?”
