Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Sunday that there was an 80 percent of chance of his arrest in Islamabad on Tuesday, May 23.
“On Tuesday, I am to appear in Islamabad for bail and there are 80 percent chances I will be arrested,” Imra said during an interview with CNN journalist Farid Zakaria.
“Everything is being done to dismantle our democracy. So right now, over 10,000 workers have been arrested, and my entire senior leadership is in jail,” he said.
Imran said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government was currently “aligned” with the military establishment, and was “dismantling the democratic system to keep me out.”
“The way they have used the pretext of arson […] they have used that reaction after my arrest to dismantle the party,” he said, adding that hundreds of women and children have been jailed following the May 9 violence.
“They are now trying to try us in the military courts.”
Imran said the government wanted to “bump him off” because it was scared of losing elections.
The PTI reiterated that he had no fight with the army, asking “How could someone win by taking on his own army”.
“In such a situation, even if you win, the country loses,” Imran said, as he emphasised the need for a strong army. “I am a firm believer that Pakistan needs a strong defense system.”
Imran also said that he did not have any problem with the army “knowing they have been entrenched”, recalling that he had worked with former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa before “he switched horses”.
The PTI chief also claimed that for the last six months of the PTI government, the former COAS worked to “remove me and later claimed I was dangerous for the country”.
Imran said the situation in Pakistan was such that even the decisions of judges and courts were being discarded.
“Recently one of the high court judges cried when a PTI leader he had given bail to was re-arrested,” he said.
“The Supreme Court chief justice when he says elections are to be held on May 14, his decisions are disregarded as well,” the former prime minister said.