Imran Khan No Longer Blames US for His Ouster

Former Pakistan prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday said he no longer blamed the US administration for his removal from power.

The remarks came as a surprise because ever since his removal from office through a vote of no confidence, the PTI leader has continuously campaigned on the slogan that a foreign conspiracy led to his ouster, and that the US administration was behind it, reports Dawn.

Separately, the former prime minister claimed that Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif was pushing the country towards disaster by not allowing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to hold transparent elections in the country.

Addressing multiple gatherings of party supporters via video link from his residence in Lahore, Mr Khan trained his guns at the elder Sharif and said the latter was not going to the polls because he was afraid of defeat at the hands of PTI.

“It is a matter of grave concern for the whole Pakistani nation that a person convicted by the Supreme Court is poised to take decisions about the future of Pakistan that includes the appointment of a new army chief,” he added.

“Those installed through the regime change conspiracy’are running away from holding elections, knowing that they will lose [elections] against me and will not be able to save their corruption and looted money,” he claimed.

According to Khan, the regime change experiment had failed but the handlers and facilitators were still not accepting their mistake.

He alleged that the incumbent rulers never “appointed any top official on merit to ensure that their looted money should be given protection at all costs”.

Claiming that his ouster had sent the booming economy into a tailspin, the PTI chairman said the Sharifs had “no remorse because they are busy getting themselves acquitted through tailor-made legislation”.

Imran Khan, who has repeatedly claimed a US-backed conspiracy behind his ouster in April this year, said he no longer blamed the US administration for his removal from power. He said he wanted a dignified relationship between Washington and Islamabad.

The PTI chairman made these remarks during an interview with a British newspaper, Financial Times.