Writing from jail, Imran Khan expresses doubts over Feb 8 polls in Pakistan

Raising serious doubts over whether the scheduled February 8 polls in Pakistan will be held jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has reiterated his ldquoengineeredrdquo removal from power in 2022 by the establishment ldquounder pressure from Americardquo and the lack of ldquolevel playing fieldrdquo in the electionsThe charge in the writeup attributed to him in The Economist published on Thursday with the title Imran Khan warns that Pakistan elections could be a farce has already been denied both by the Pakistan government and the US Department of StateThe writeup paints a scathing criticism of Pakistans current political scenario even as it reiterates Khans oftrepeated allegations and ends with the demand for free and fair elections for political stability and the need for reforms He also claims that with democracy under siege Pakistan is ldquoheaded in the opposite directionrdquoFounder of the Pakistan TehreekeInsaaf PTI party 71yearold Khan is incarcerated at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi convicted in the Toshakhana corruption case and being tried under multiple other cases including one under the Official Secrets Act in connection with the May 9 violent protests by his supporters that damaged military installations across PakistanHis nomination has been rejected by the Election Commission of Pakistan ECP as is the case with that of many other leaders of his party ahead of the February 8 general elections for both national and provincial assembliesWhile expressing fears that the election scheduled for February 8 may not take place at all the article stated that even if they do such polls would be a disaster and a farce since PTI is being denied its basic right to campaignldquoWhether elections happen or not the manner in which I and my party have been targetediquest has made one thing clear the establishment the army security agencies and the civil bureaucracy is not prepared to provide any playing field at all let alone a level one for PTIrdquo Khan wroteAlso read Pakistan court grants permission to Imran Khan for election meetings in jailThe PTI founder went on to describe in detail how his ouster in MarchApril 2022 was ldquoengineeredrdquo under pressure from America which he alleged ldquowas becoming agitated with my push for an independent foreign policy and my refusal to provide bases for its armed forcesrdquoKhan also said he wanted to be a friend to all and not anyones proxy for war an opinion shaped by the huge losses suffered by Pakistan including the loss of 80000 lives while collaborating with Americas ldquowar on terrorrdquoHe also described in detail the cipher case how the caretaker governments are illegal as the elections were not held within 90 days blamed the ECP for rejecting his nomination hindering the partys internal elections and also lodging cases against him and his party colleagues ldquosimply for criticising the CommissionrdquoMeanwhile Khans The Economist writeup went viral on social media and garnered a volley of reactions in Pakistan Some PTI supporters also shared the Urdu translation some shared screenshots ldquothe original is behind a paywallrdquo and some even went ahead with an audiovisual of Khan reading it out generated using AIPakistans leading daily The Dawn said ldquoWhile sources within the party were hesitant to comment on how the writing may have been relayed to the publication in London from inside prison they insisted that the words were indeed those of Mr KhanrdquoIt also said that some observers expressed doubts over whether the article was indeed by Khan but many noted that the tone and content of the article was consistent with his viewsEarlier reacting to questions on Pakistan elections State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said we want to see free and fair elections that are conducted in accordance with Pakistans lawsIts not for the United States to dictate to Pakistan how it conducts ldquothe exact specifics of how it conducts its election but to make clear that we want to see those elections conducted in a free fair and peaceful manner that includes freedom of expression peaceful assembly and association and ultimately a full open reliable vibrant democratic process Miller said on Thursday in WashingtonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever