Imran Khan targeting institutions that supported him: PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that Imran Khan is targeting the same institutions that supported him when he was in power, adding that if the previous governments were offered even 20 percent of the support which Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) received, the country would have achieved a lot of success.

"Imran Khan's government received unprecedented support from the state institutions," the premier said while speaking during the first regular session of the National Assembly (NA) after the coalition government assumed office.

Criticising the PTI, PM Shehbaz said Imran Khan's regime was a "product of rigging".

Keep army out of politics in country’s best interest: ISPR

Talking about Khan's controversial remarks in Sunday's address in Abbottabad, he said the PTI chairman made "very dangerous statements".

"Imran Khan's speech was against the institutions," he said, adding that PTI's chairman is speaking directly against state interests.

Addressing the issue of the alleged conspiracy against the outgoing government, the premier said Khan should "explain how intimidation can be termed as conspiracy."

"The letter contained threatening remarks but where did the issue of conspiracy come from?" he asked.

On Sunday, the Army also took "strong exception" to "intensified and deliberate attempts" to drag its name into the country's ongoing political discourse by "some political leaders, journalists, and analysts."

Punjab governor writes letter to COAS over ‘crisis’

In a press release, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) noted that attempts to involve the armed forces and its senior leadership in the political discourse were "manifest through direct, insinuated or nuanced references made by some political leaders, few journalists and analysts on public forums and various communication platforms, including social media".

"This practice of unsubstantiated, defamatory, and provocative statements/remarks is extremely damaging," the ISPR said.

It added that the military takes strong exception to such "unlawful and unethical practices" and expects everyone to abide by the law and keep the armed forces out of political discourse in the "best interest of the country".

The statement comes after weeks of heightened political activity in the country, involving the issue of the former prime minister's removal from power.

Khan claims that he was removed from power due to an international conspiracy that had the support of local politicians.

He has also vowed to bring over two million people to Islamabad to protest against the alleged “foreign conspiracy” to remove him from the office through a no-trust vote.

“I believe that more than two million people will march towards Islamabad when I give protest call to my nation after May 20, no matter how many containers, how many hurdles this “imported government” erects,” Khan said while addressing a large public gathering in Abbottabad on Sunday.

It is pertinent to mention here that last month, the military dismissed ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan's accusation that the United States had conspired to topple him in a parliamentary vote of confidence.

"You can see clearly whether there's any word of conspiracy in that statement. I don't think so," the military's spokesman, Major General Babar Iftikhar, told a news conference in reference to an NSC statement that had expressed concern over the non-diplomatic language used in a cable from a "foreign country", widely assumed to mean the United States, about the no-confidence vote.

Iftikhar denied Khan's assertion that the army chief of staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, had offered to help mediate in his deadlock with the opposition.

Instead, he said, Khan had asked Bajwa to convey to the opposition on his behalf that he would call snap elections if the no-confidence motion was withdrawn.

"(Bajwa) went to the opposition and placed this request in front of them, and after a detailed discussion they said that they wouldn't take any such step, and that 'we will go on as we have planned'," said Iftikhar.

He also clarified that the United States had never asked for military bases in Pakistan after U.S.-led forces' withdrawal from Afghanistan last August. Khan's party had said that Washington turned against him after he said "absolutely not" in a TV interview in response to a question about whether he would give the bases to the Americans.

Khan has aired the conspiracy allegations in his public rallies, demanding snap elections.

The next parliamentary election is due in 2023.