Launch election campaign or lose tickets, Imran warns PTI candidates

PTI founder Imran Khan has cautioned party candidates to conduct their election campaigns peacefully for the February 8 elections or risk having their tickets canceled.

Despite being incarcerated in Adiala jail, the former prime minister said that candidates failing to commence their campaigns from Sunday could face replacement with other nominees.

Speaking informally to the media in the Adiala jail courtroom, Khan, who has been imprisoned since May last year, addressed the situation where the party's electoral symbol, the 'bat,' was taken away this month.

Furthermore, the alliance with PTI-Nazriati, which the party sought, faced a backtrack from its commitment.

Despite these challenges, PTI has committed not to boycott the polls and will participate without its iconic electoral symbol, with candidates running under different signs.

Khan also mentioned that Asad Majeed, the former ambassador of Pakistan to the United States and a witness in the cipher case, had recommended sending a demarche to an official meeting after the reception of a diplomatic cable.

“Shah Mahmood Qureshi found the cipher by chance. It was for General (retd) Bajwa. Every effort was made to suppress the cipher. My government was overthrown three weeks after it. If there was no such thing in the cipher, why the demarche was sent? Does anyone send it to America?” he added.

He claimed that in October 2021, General (retd) Bajwa had hired former Pakistan's ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani without his knowledge. He alleged, “Haqqani was given $35,000. He tweeted that Imran is against America while Bajwa is in its favor.”

The former premier expressed frustration, stating that his party members were facing obstacles in conducting election campaigns. “Elections should be held on February 8 anyway,” he added.

Meanwhile, PTI senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi extended gratitude to senior politician Javed Hashmi for his honesty. Hashmi declared his withdrawal from the election race and endorsed PTI-backed Aamir Dogar, who is set to contest the February 8 polls from the NA-149 constituency.

“I am throwing my political weight behind the Tehreek-e-Insaf and Imran Khan and withdrawing from the elections,” Hashmi, who has been a part of the PTI and its arch-rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Qureshi said that the cipher was only for the secretary to see and the National Security Committee (NSC) accepted political interference.