Pakistan’s former president Arif Alvi has urged all stakeholders to hold dialogue with jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan and his party, underlining that it was the sole path to mitigate the cash-strapped country’s dire economic condition.
Addressing a gathering of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) office-bearers and various wings in Lahore on Monday, Alvi congratulated PTI workers, supporters, and the people of Pakistan on the acquittal of party founder Imran Khan, along with former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in the cipher case.
Alvi, inclined towards the PTI party, was a senior member of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party before the cricketer-turned-politician made him the country’s President in 2018.
Khan was on Monday acquitted in three high-profile cases, including the cipher case, in a major relief to the beleaguered former prime minister who was sentenced to 10 years in jail for making public a secret diplomatic communication.
The meeting was chaired by PTI Central Punjab President Ejaz Manhas, with senior PTI leaders such as Azam Khan Swati, Brigadier (retd) Ejaz Shah, Azeemuddin Lakho, Sardar Azeemullah Advocate, and Zubair Kisan in attendance, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
The 74-year-old former president reiterated the importance of dialogue in resolving the political crisis, stressing that all stakeholders must participate as it is the sole path to improvement in Pakistan’s dire economic condition.
Pakistan’s economy is facing severe headwinds and the cash-strapped country has made a formal request to International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the next bailout package between USD 6 and USD 8 billion with the possibility of augmentation through climate financing.
He claimed the PML-N leadership had encouraged corruption over the past two years since the regime change, referring to the ouster of Khan as the prime minister in 2022. Praising the PTI government’s social welfare initiatives, Alvi stated that 71-year-old Khan had earnestly worked to transform Pakistan into a welfare state modelled after Madinah.
“Imran Khan aimed to create a society where everyone is equal and has access to necessities,” he remarked, accusing the PML-N of plotting to overthrow the Khan-led government.
Alvi maintained that although the PTI government was removed through a conspiracy, they will not rest until they regain power to continue serving the people of Pakistan.
Speaking to the media, Alvi condemned the baseless cases filed against PTI workers, commending the judiciary for upholding the law.
He stressed that justice should be equal for all and urged the nation to overcome its current predicament.
He called on the army, civilians, and politicians to learn from the Hamoodur Rahman Commission report and step back from inappropriate actions. He insisted that all institutions must extricate themselves from their current deadlocks to progress.
The former president also defended PTI’s right to request a judge to recuse themselves and asserted that the prime minister must disclose matters of national interest.
