Imran Khan gives clean chit to US, blames Bajwa for removing him as PM

Islamabad : After alleging that the United States was involved in the 'conspiracy' of ousting Imran Khan from the Prime Minister post, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief gave a clean chit to America and, instead, blamed former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa for removing him, the Dawn reported.

Khan, who was ousted from his post in April last year, took swipes at Bajwa saying that the former army chief had told the US that PTI Chief is an anti-American. He made these remarks during an interview with US-based international radio broadcaster, Voice of America, aired on Saturday, and a separate televised address on Sunday, according to Dawn.

"Whatever happened, now as things unfold, it wasn't the US who told Pakistan [to oust me]. It was unfortunately, from what evidence has come up, [former army chief] Gen [Qamar Javed] Bajwa who somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American. And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there," Khan told VoA.

Interestingly, Khan, who continuously blamed the US for removing him from the PM post, had taken a U-turn from his statements.

Meanwhile, in his televised address, Imran Khan termed Gen Bajwa, who retired in November last year, 'super king', admitting that his three-and-a-half-year stint in the Prime Minister's Office was more like of a puppet.

"Gen Bajwa had become an expert in everything, including economy, politics, and foreign policy," Khan alleged.

"Gen Bajwa used to get the credit for good decisions and Imran Khan used to serve as a punching bag for every wrong decision," Khan claimed, alleging that the former army chief was responsible for the "political and economic ills" faced by the country today.

He also slammed General Bajwa for hampering the process of accountability and claimed that the former army chief had already decided that there won't be any questions from PM Shehbaz Sharif.

"No accountability was held thereafter," he said, claiming that the former army chief had also acknowledged this in an interview with a columnist, reported Dawn.

"If Bajwa could be criticized or held accountable for his actions, he would not have been able to damage the country to such an extent," he added.

In his televised address, the former PM stressed his demand for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the dissolution of provincial Assemblies. He believed that only fresh elections could drive Pakistan out of the current economic and political mess.

According to the PTI chief, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the incumbent caretaker government were duty-bound to hold general elections in Punjab and KP within 90 days of the dissolution of the assemblies. "On the 91st day, the caretaker governments will cease to have constitutional cover," he said, asking the bureaucrats and police officers to disobey the 'unconstitutional caretaker government' after the end of its three-month timeframe.

Khan alleged that the Sharifs and Zardaris were afraid of elections as they first wanted to create a "level-playing field" by disqualifying him from contesting elections and then putting him in jail along with his party leadership, as per the report in Dawn.

"The ruling coalition in the federal government is afraid of one person and one party, which is Imran Khan and PTI, and wants to block us to get their NRO given to them by Gen Bajwa," he alleged.

The former premier also went after the ECP and said the electoral watchdog was taking decisions on the "instructions of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif".