Imran Khan asks party leaders to start country-wide campaign.
PTI chairman stresses not accepting “imported govt” at any cost. “I cannot sacrifice my countrymen for a foreign power,” he adds.
LAHORE: PTI Chairman Imran Khan Thursday asked Pakistanis to gear up to start a campaign for “actual independence” and wait for his call to Islamabad, as the ousted premier stressed he would not accept the “imported government” at any cost.
“The actual party has just begun, our campaign will intensify wait for my call. I don’t want anything else except early elections,” the ex-prime minister told the Lahore jalsa, calling on the “people who had committed a mistake” to hold early polls.
Khan called on the supporters of PML-N and PPP as well to support the PTI as they were unaware of the foreign conspiracy that had been hatched against his government.
The PTI chairman said his party was a democratic force and wanted democratic solutions. “Those who have committed a mistake, it is your turn to hold early elections.”
“But I want to make it clear, I do not want any conflict. This is my country and I have nowhere else to go […] I will live and die in Pakistan,” the PTI chairman said.
Khan reiterated that if Pakistan did not have a strong army, then the country would have been split into three parts. “Had our army personnel not sacrificed their lives the way they did, our situation would have been similar to the one in Syria and Iraq.” Berating the incumbent government for ousting him from power, the ex-prime minister alleged they bought the conscience of lawmakers and “polished the boots of foreign powers”.
Going into the details of why a “foreign conspiracy” was hatched against him, Khan said that the day he came into power his goal was to give an independent foreign policy to Pakistan. ”An independent foreign policy means that all the decisions will be made in the interest of the people. I cannot sacrifice my countrymen for a foreign power,” Khan said.
The PTI chairman alleged that the incumbent rulers were always obedient when foreign powers gave them directives but claimed he did not follow suit, so the foreign powers “did not like it”…
Source: Dawn.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
