ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), “will not make a deal” even if he receives a heavier sentence, according to Rauf Hassan, the party’s information secretary, who made this statement on Friday. Imran Khan was recently found guilty in a few cases.
The PTI supremo’s legal problems got worse when, in the Toshakhana reference, an accountability court earlier this week sentenced the former prime minister and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 14 years in prison with harsh punishment. The setback occurred just one day after Khan was given a 10-year prison sentence by a special court in a cipher-related case.
The PTI emphasizes that the former premier would not back down in the face of punishment, despite being ousted from office in April 2022 by a vote of no confidence.
Hassan told journalists in Islamabad, “The PTI founder will not make a deal even if [he gets] a harsher punishment.”
“Ask Bushra Bibi if anyone has contacted her for a deal,” he stated.
He stated that PTI has been in communication with envoys from many nations, and that the leaders have met with some of them. Some of them have even given assurances that the country will have free and fair elections.
He did, however, add that the party doesn’t release remarks regarding these gatherings.
Hassan further stated that the party’s candidates won’t sell themselves, ruling out horse trading involving the independent candidates supported by the PTI in the polls scheduled for February 8. “[We] believe that the PTI nominated candidates will not change their loyalties.”
The lawmaker went on to say that the party issued tickets to about 27 attorneys based on the idea that attorneys could not be detained.
Hassan claimed that by collaborating with the head of the Awami Muslim League (AML), the PTI had been unjust to itself in reference to Imran’s erstwhile ally Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.
Furthermore, the information secretary for the PTI stated that all individuals who had left the party “are willing to rejoin”.
“The PTI will review the anti-party statements of deserters who are willing to rejoin.”
Regarding the party’s decision to postpone the internal elections, Hassan stated that the state of the nation and the unavailability of workers as a result of general polls made it appear impossible to hold internal elections.
He declared that if the party votes were held, the former ruling party will use a computerized method.
For some time now, the PTI has been dealing with a number of legal issues because the former prime minister was found guilty in several instances and the party lost its well-known election emblem.
The PTI was obliged to run independent candidates after losing the electoral symbol ahead of the polls, as it was no longer considered a political party in the absence of a leader.
