Ousted former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has accused Chief Justice Faiz Isa of being biased against his party the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf). In a message from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail where he is incarcerated, which was carried by the Express Tribune, Khan urged the courts to expedite hearings of his case and “refrain from unjustified delays”.
He said all the cases against him were “false, baseless and concocted”, and found fault with Chief Justice Faiz Isa saying, “You are behaving like the government’s B team against PTI.”
“You snatched the electoral symbol from PTI, denied a level playing field, and violated our fundamental human rights in the guise of the May 9 incident, on which our petition has been pending since May 25, 2023 without a hearing till today.” He said his party’s petitions against rigging in the general elections remains unheard, also the issue of women’s reserved seats.
“The remarks of high court judges have proved that jungle law prevails in this country. It’s time for the Supreme Court judges to stand up like other high court judges and reject wrong decisions.”
He said he was willing for dialogue but warned that a dialogue could happen only when a stolen mandate is returned “And our innocent workers imprisoned in jails are released,” the Express Tribune reported. He indicated he was ready to initiate dialogue with his party’s most formidable adversaries.
There have been rumours of talks between the PTI and the establishment for the past few days after senior party leader Shehryar Afridi said a dialogue with the COAS (Chief of army staff) and director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence will begin soon, indicating no talks with “rejected people” who came to parliament through Form 47 (official documentation of election results).
Another party leader Fawad Choudhary said “If Imran Khan strikes a deal, he will become Shehbaz Sharif. Now a threat to Sharif is not from his house but from those who brought him to power, and outsiders.”
