"Establishment not ready to provide a level playing field for PTI," claims Imran Khan

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has cast doubts over the February 8 elections, claiming that the establishment is not ready to provide his party a "level playing field."

In a recent article penned for a British publication, The Economist, Khan alleged that the country's establishment is hindering the prospects of a fair electoral process, labeling polls conducted under such circumstances as a "farce."

"Whether elections happen or not, the manner in which I and my party have been targeted since a farcical vote of no confidence in April 2022 has made one thing clear: the establishment—the army, security agencies and the civil bureaucracy—is not prepared to provide any playing field at all, let alone a level one, for PTI," he wrote in an article.

Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala jail, reiterated his stance that his government's removal was orchestrated by the establishment "under pressure from the United States".

"It was, after all, the establishment that engineered our removal from government under pressure from America, which was becoming agitated with my push for an independent foreign policy and my refusal to provide bases for its armed forces. I was categorical that we would be a friend to all but would not be anyone’s proxy for wars," the former premier said. 

Mr Khan further alleged that "unfortunately" the establishment had decided that he could not be allowed to return to power and "they had used all means of removing him from the political landscape."

"There were two assassination attempts on my life. My party’s leaders, workers and social-media activists, along with supportive journalists, were abducted, incarcerated, tortured and pressured to leave PTI. Many of them remain locked up, with new charges being thrown at them every time the courts give them bail or set them free. Worse, the current government has gone out of its way to terrorise and intimidate PTI's female leaders and workers in an effort to discourage women from participating in politics."

The PTI founder claimed that the May 9 mayhem, in which several military and civil installations were targeted post-Imran arrest, was a false-flag operation against his political party. 

"A false-flag operation on May 9th 2023— involving, among other things, arson at military installations falsely blamed on PTI — led to several thousand arrests, abductions and criminal charges within 48 hours. The speed showed it was pre-planned," he said. 

"This was followed by many of our leaders being tortured or their families threatened into giving press conferences and engineered television interviews to state that they were leaving the party. Some were compelled to join other, newly created political parties. Others were made to give false testimony against me under duress," the former PTI chairman added.

The article highlights PTI's popularity following Imran's removal, with Khan claiming that the party's success in by-elections unsettled those responsible for his ousting.

"Despite all this, PTI remains popular, with 66% support in a Pattan-Coalition 38 poll held in December; my personal approval rating is even higher. Now the election commission, desperate to deny the party the right to contest elections, is indulging in all manner of unlawful tricks. The courts seem to be losing credibility daily." 

Criticising the three-time former prime minister, Mr Khan claimed that Nawaz Sharif has "struck a deal with the establishment", securing support for his acquittal in corruption charges and backing in the upcoming elections.

"It is my belief that Mr Sharif has struck a deal with the establishment whereby it will support his acquittal and throw its weight behind him in the upcoming elections. But so far the public has been unrelenting in its support for PTI and its rejection of the selected."

While expressing fears that the election scheduled for February 8 may not be held, Mr Khan said that even if they do, such polls would be a “disaster and a farce since PTI is being denied its basic right to campaign”.

"Such a joke of an election would only lead to further political instability. This, in turn, would further aggravate an already volatile economy," he added. 

"The only viable way forward for Pakistan is fair and free elections, which would bring back political stability and the rule of law, as well as ushering in desperately needed reforms by a democratic government with a popular mandate. There is no other way for Pakistan to disentangle itself from the crises confronting it. Unfortunately, with democracy under siege, we are heading in the opposite direction on all these fronts," the former prime minister concluded.