• Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said Imran Khan has confessed to being “selected” by the establishment. 
• He was reacting to Imran Khan’s statement given while addressing a seminar on August 18. 
• Says tenure of this government will end with Pakistan in a better state. 

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says PTI Chairman Imran Khan has confessed to being “selected”. 

“The hallmark of Imran Khan is that his statements from two different days do not match,” said the PML-N leader while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Thursday. 

“Imran Khan should tell the nation if it was the establishment that brought him to power in the 2018 elections. He may say that it was by mistake that he entered politics. It was [the] establishment that dragged me into power after [the] 2018 elections.”

He said most of the PML-N leaders were put behind bars during his [Imran Khan’s] four years in power. Now, he should reveal if it was he or the establishment that made such decisions, he said. 

“Similarly, national debts increased manifold in his tenure. He should tell if the establishment was responsible for this volume of debts,” he said. 

Imran Khan, while addressing a seminar on August 18, criticised the establishment and asked them to review their policies as there is still time left to make changes. Referring to the incumbent government, he said that the establishment imposed these “thieves” upon Pakistan.

“How did the establishment let them [the current government] rule us knowing about the foreign conspiracy? This is because they have the power right now,” said the former premier.

“No matter how much you [the establishment] call yourself neutral, the nation will blame you for imposing this government on us.” He also said, “It [the establishment] is forcing us to accept these thieves and for that, they are spreading fear among the nation.”

Reacting to Imran Khan’s statement, Abbasi said Imran Khan accepted that he was “selected”. “I do not consider myself ‘selected’ as Pakistan doesn’t admit any ‘selection’ here,” he said. 

The PML-N leader said he can confirm that the PML-N’s decision to take over government was the most difficult in the country’s history and it has a political price.

Imran Khan should account for the money he received from foreign companies and foreign nationals, he said, adding that Khan is to answer about the 16 accounts.

“It is by the grace of Allah that neither [General Pervez] Musharraf nor Imran could prove corruption of even a penny against Nawaz Sharif in their respective eras,” he said. 

Nawaz Sharif’s resentment

Commenting on a question regarding PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif walking away from a meeting on the petrol price, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said it is true that he [Nawaz] was not in favour of ramping up the POL prices. 

“But, we said the Ogra system has been in place in the country for 30 years now. We cannot nix it. Subsidising the prices is the only way round,” he explained. 

“But the government never subsidised fuel in the budget. Given that Pakistan is in an IMF programme which is currently being renegotiated, it wouldn’t be possible [for the government to peg the POL prices.]”

Khaqan said the PML-N members express their views openly in such meetings. 

‘PML-N to pay heavy price for forming govt’

Replying to a query regarding the PML-N forming the government after the collapse of the PTI government, the PML-N leader said he was against taking the government at a critical juncture like this. But the circumstances prove that the country could not have afforded a seven-month caretaker setup as it would default in days or weeks [under such a setup], he asserted. 

The country would have faced a Sri Lanka-like situation in case a caretaker had been installed, he said. The PML-N will have to pay the price, perhaps repeatedly, for such a difficult decision [of taking the government], he said. 

The PML-N government has caused some relief to the country facing increased problems amid difficult circumstances around the world, he said. 

The PML-N leader said more difficult decisions will have to be taken as there is no returning from the situation for the party. 

Differences in govt over POL prices

Reacting to the differences among the allies over the increasing POL prices, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi categorically said offering subsidy on fuel is not possible. He hoped that the people of Pakistan will accept it as the government did not impose any additional tax and diesel price went down. 

He also said the petrol prices will scale down in the coming months. 

PM should take notice of Gill situation

Reacting to Shahbaz Gill’s arrest, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said he doesn’t support lodging cases against anyone. The law, he stressed, doesn’t allow torturing [any prisoner,] hence, Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah should look into the matter. 

The PML-N leader ruled out victimisation against Shahbaz Gill as the party doesn’t believe in it. He also appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah to take notice of what is happening to Gill. 

He also said Pakistan will be in a far better state on August 17, 2023, than where Imran Khan had left it.