Islamabad [Pakistan], October 25 : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has challenged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif to contest against him on "whichever constituency" he chooses.
In a video message posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Imran Khan said that the time is gone when those having "support of the establishment" used to win the elections.
"It is being said that a level-playing field will be established after the return of Nawaz Sharif... all the corruption cases against him have anyways been closed. Now, what is left? He was waiting for Imran Khan to be jailed and for PTI to be finished," Khan said in the video message.
He added, "My only challenge is that whichever constituency he contests, I will also contest from there. And I won't even campaign...but I am telling you that the country has changed. People won't vote for such candidates. The days have gone when any candidate having the support of the establishment used to win the elections".
The video was posted on October 22 a day after Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan after self-imposed exile for four years.
"Chairman Imran Khan had already intimated to the nation about the London Plan on numerous occasions. With absconder Nawaz Sharif's return, the plan appears to be unfolding as anticipated. State protocol, public resources, and use of public money to facilitate a convict can't sway the public's opinion who want nothing less than immediate, free, and fair elections," the post read.
https://x.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1715754162359771455?s=20
Upon his arrival, Sharif addressed a massive crowd of supporters at the Minar-e-Pakistan rally in Lahore.
The three-time PM lamented how Pakistan's economy is in dire straits with very high inflation, and dangerously low foreign exchange reserves and vowed to redirect the country on the path of growth, Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper reported.
He said that if Pakistan was run on his 1990 economic model, "not a single person would have been unemployed, there would be nothing like poverty [...] but today, the condition is so bad that one has to think if they can feed their children or pay electricity bills".
Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif was granted bail in the Toshakhana case by the accountability court. Also, the Pakistan's caretaker government in Punjab suspended his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference
Earlier, Nawaz was granted protective bail in two graft cases while his arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case was suspended by an accountability court on Thursday, two days before his return to Pakistan on October 21 after spending four years of self-imposed exile in London.
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