Threat to artificially propped up economy will persist: Imran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder chairman Imran Khan Thursday said though the government stabilised the economy, threat to artificially stabilised economy would persist.

In a conversation with reporters at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, when asked if he admits that the government has stabilised the economy, the former prime minister replied that the economy stabilised and avoided bankruptcy, but there was no development. He said the threat of default would stay there if the economy is stabilised through artificial means. Imran posted a message on the social networking website ‘X’ and said: “2025 is the year of real freedom, God willing, 2024 was a difficult year for Pakistan, obviously freedom is difficult to achieve!”

He claimed that has received a message of deal with him and the message was that “we will give your party political space but you will be placed under house arrest and shifted to Bani Gala”.

The PTI founder chairman said that he had replied to the offer that first release all the remaining political prisoners. “I will remain in jail but will not accept any deal, I will not go to house arrest or any jail in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.

Imran said that he had asked his nation that they did not have to panic, as “your captain is steadfast, I will tell my overseas Pakistanis to join the campaign to boycott remittances”.

He contended that right now, only ‘committee, committee’ is being played regarding PTI demands; however, if the negotiations yield positive results, the campaign to boycott remittances would be stopped, adding that it was a protest for the restoration of ‘true’ freedom and democracy.

He emphasised that if there was rule of law, investment would come to the country and the economy would recover, but no attention was paid to it, capitalists were withdrawing their capital and factories were closing down.

Reacting to the sentences handed down by military courts, he said that arbitrary trials were conducted in the military court regarding May 9, saying if trials were conducted in an open court, the video footage of May 9 would have had to be produced.

He said that the video record of the attack on him in the Judicial Complex, Islamabad on March 18, 2023, was deliberately hidden. He insisted that a transparent trial was a fundamental constitutional right of citizens.

The PTI supremo believed that conducting cases in military courts had deprived citizens of their fundamental rights and Pakistan had been severely reprimanded internationally.

He suggested a review of policies, adding that Afghanistan was bombed twice. Earlier, it was claimed that forcibly sending back refugees would reduce terrorism, but that method increased hatred, which was not good for regional peace and order.

Imran claimed that when Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became the foreign minister, he did not visit Afghanistan even once, while it should have been a priority.

The former prime minister said that he had also told former army chief General Bajwa that after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the situation was not such that the then ISI chief General (retd) Faiz should be replaced immediately, but he was making all the decisions for his own expansion plan instead of Pakistan, which harmed Pakistan and increased terrorism.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and the PTI negotiation committee met separately with Imran in the jail. Opposition Leader Omar Ayub, NA former Speaker Asad Qaiser, Salman Akram Raja, Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza, who were part of the PTI negotiation committee, met the PTI founder.

After the meeting, talking to the media, Hamid Raza said that they want to bring the talks to a logical conclusion by January 31.

He said that there was a clear position on November 26 that “shots were fired and that 13 of our workers were martyred on that day; the workers were tortured; and those who ordered the shooting are responsible for the May 9 incident”.

He revealed that the party founder said that for the survival of Pakistan, he was ready to forgive all the ill-treatment done to him and that he was ready to forgive everyone for the sake of Pakistan.

Hamid Raza said that they have only two demands, as, while the other side is accusing us of the May 9 issue, a judicial commission consisting of the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court should be formed, an investigation be conducted to find out who were the people who were inciting the people on May 9.

“Our demand is that the PTI founder should be released, we do not want the founder’s release as a result of any deal, as he wants the courts to decide all the cases against him,” he maintained.

He said that the party founder had a special conversation with Gandapur on the issue of Kurram.

Hamid Raza emphasised PTI founder Imran’s unwavering stance on resolving key issues through dialogue rather than conflict.

He reiterated Imran’s condemnation of external aggression, particularly regarding Afghanistan, and stressed the importance of negotiations to address disputes.

“Imran Khan believes Afghanistan-related matters must be resolved through dialogue, not violence. He remains firmly against engaging in external wars,” said Hamid Raza.

Meanwhile, PTI spokesperson Shaikh Waqas Akram denied the party founder Imran Khan’s statement about economy and said in fact he had termed the related government steps as cosmetic ones and an artificial bubble.

In a video message, shared with the media, he claimed that the party leader had been misquoted, who said that the government had ‘shut down’ the entire economy in order to bring down inflation and interest rate.

He said the party founder believed the economy was on the verge of collapse and could fall any time, as economic stability could come by job creation and investment, whereas the rule of law and political stability were its pre-requisites, which were not there to be seen.

Waqas emphasised that his party leader had fixed January 31 for the things to reach to their logical conclusion this way or that way. “To show seriousness towards talks, the government should have put on hold its ministers’ statements and news conferences and military trials,” the party information secretary contended.

Regarding latest sentences given by the military courts to the persons, related to May 9, he said that their party position was the same, which was expressed when such reports surfaced a few days back.

“Imran Khan had rejected civilians’ trials in military courts, as this is not a proper thing,” he pointed out.

About the civil disobedience campaign, he said that no one had neither withdrawn the call, nor anyone could do so, as the call was given by the party founder and only he could withdraw it.

The PTI spokesperson said that the call given to the overseas Pakistanis to halt remittances to the country could be withdrawn by Imran, if he sees positive progress in talks between the opposition and the government allies committees’ meetings.