Pakistan faces fresh political confrontation

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 7 (ANI): Pakistan witnesses heightened confrontation between Shahbaz Sharif-led government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan over a panoply of issues.
Pakistan’s coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif criticised former Prime Minister Imran Khan for discrediting the national institutions and promoting hate politics, The Nation reported.
On Tuesday, Imran Khan accused the ruling coalition of trying to pit him against the military and judiciary and said that the government is “scared of him winning the elections,” The News International reported.
The former premier made these remarks during a public rally in Peshawar and said, “The three stooges, including Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, know they cannot defeat me in elections. That’s why they are hatching conspiracies to get me disqualified.”
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan accused the ruling government of hatching a conspiracy to derail his “positive prospects” of winning the elections. He accused the government of deliberately trying to create discord between him and the state institutions, reported The News International.
“I have stated that the army chief should be selected on merit and I still stand by my statement as there was nothing wrong with it. I have further stated that the two dacoits, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, should not select the future army chief,” the former Prime Minister added.
Clarifying his previous comments that Imran Khan made in a public rally in Faisalabad where he criticized the government for delaying the elections to appoint an army chief of its own, Khan said that he made such remarks as Nawaz Sharif was a criminal. He alleged that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was convicted by a court on corruption charges of billions of rupees and then escaped from the country.
“The people of Peshawar should tell me if a person convicted by the court in corruption of billions of rupees should have the right to select the army chief,” he asked the participants of the public rally.
According to The Nation, Imran Khan, even as Prime Minister was hostile towards the opposition but his sudden exit from power made him bitter.
Pakistan is currently suffering an economic and political crisis. Shehbaz Sharif’s new government has been in a state of decision paralysis and is struggling to find its footing, while the ousted Prime Minister is leading rallies across the country, attacking the government’s legitimacy and calling for fresh elections.
At the same time, Pakistan is grappling with the worst climatic emergency. It’s not only political temperatures spiking but also an unprecedented heat wave enveloped Pakistan for weeks and then the floods did the rest. (ANI)