Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan says that whatever criminal charges are brought against him, his party will win the next general elections and return to power.
Chairman Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan said in an exclusive interview to The Independent that ‘Military thinking does not understand the subtleties of elections. Once people come out to vote, you can’t stop them.’
“I’m telling you when (elections are held) they won’t be able to stop people,” he said.
At the same time, Imran Khan compared himself to leaders like the struggling Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and Pakistan’s first Governor General Muhammad Ali Jinnah who had ‘one mission’.
Imran Khan said that he sees politics as a mission in which Nelson Mandela is an example. You know you are fighting for your freedom when you are really working for your freedom. Or (say) that Jinnah or Gandhi. These were the leaders I looked up to because they were selfless. His aim was not to take office. They had a mission.’
The Tehreek-e-Insaf chief has once again defended his campaign to become Pakistan’s prime minister, saying he has no personal ambitions.
‘I never took up politics as a career. I would never advise anyone, especially my sons, to take up politics as a career. I always tell them never to go into politics because it is the worst career.’
After the arrests of other leaders including Imran Khan in May, many senior leaders left the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), while some leaders publicly separated from the ideology of the former prime minister and formed a new political party.
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About this, Imran Khan says that most of the people who left (the party) were under a lot of pressure. They (authorities) closed their businesses. They went after their families. This has never happened before in this country. They (authorities) went after these relatives just because they (Tehrik-e-Insaaf leaders) left the party, they locked them in ‘dead cells’, a small room, and they silence you. ‘
In Imran Khan’s view, the government is making all efforts to crush his party.
‘My entire senior leadership is either behind bars or in hiding. They put them in jail, put a lot of pressure on them. Many could not bear the prison conditions as it is the hottest time of the year.’
Despite the extraordinary challenges he now faces, Imran Khan says that ‘being prime minister was the hardest job of my life.’
He added: ‘I never took a day off except for the five days when I got Covid. I stayed in bed. Otherwise, I never took a vacation and it was the hardest thing I ever did in my life. It was just work and nothing else. It was not easy to become the prime minister.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan is facing several cases these days regarding which he has to appear in the courts of Islamabad and Lahore.