‘Whether I am in jail or not, party will sweep elections’: Imran Khan

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has claimed that whether he is in jail or not, his party will “sweep” the elections.

The former prime minister said he does not know if he will end up getting disqualified or not, but stressed that it “doesn’t matter” because he believes his party has a popularity wave that is “unprecedented” in Pakistan’s history. He made these remarks in a chat with American media group National Public Radio (NPR).

“What is happening is that the government is petrified of elections. They’re scared that we’re going to win the elections. Therefore, they are trying everything to get me out of the way, including assassination, because I survived an assassination attempt – [and am] very lucky to be alive,” Khan told NPR.

Speaking with Steve Inskeep, Khan said that in his tenure, there was maximum media freedom.

“Steve, my three and a half years were the most liberal three and a half years in our history. I mean, the – we never interfered with the judiciary, which was always the case in the past. We never interfered with the media. The only time there were problems with the media was not because of us, because of the army, because of the army establishment,” Khan responded.

Talking about ‘rule of law’ Khan said that it is his “firm belief” that because he’s been all over the world as a professional international sportsman, the difference between rich countries and poor countries is not lack of resources, but rule of law. 

“Countries that have rule of law prosper, countries that don’t have rule of law become banana republics. So our fight in Pakistan is to bring the powerful elite under the law,” he said.