Pak government 'petrified' of losing elections: Imran Khan
“The government and its backers are petrified of elections because so far in the last eight months, out of the 37 byelections, my party has won 30 of them,” Imran Khan said after dozens of his supporters were arrested and injured in a police crackdown on an election rally in Lahore
![Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a joint news conference with Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (not pictured) in Putrajaya, Malaysia, February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng/File Photo](https://www.tbsnews.net/sites/default/files/styles/big_2/public/images/2022/03/31/2022-03-31t061831z_1_lynxnpei2u094_rtroptp_4_health-coronavirus-pakistan.jpg)
The Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government is "petrified" of losing elections, said the country's former prime minister Imran Khan.
"The government and its backers are petrified of elections because so far in the last eight months, out of the 37 byelections, my party has won 30 of them," Imran Khan said after dozens of his supporters were arrested and injured in a police crackdown on an election rally in Lahore, reports Al Jazeera.
Imran Khan called off a rally of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Lahore after police used tear gas and water cannon on his supporters for defying a government ban on public gatherings.
PTI was scheduled to hold a rally to kick off its campaigning for the provincial election set for 30 April. But authorities banned the event just a few hours before it was due to start "to avert any untoward incident", local media reported.
"They want to either arrest or disqualify me because they are scared [of the fact] that my party is one of the most popular in Pakistan's history," the former Pak prime minister added.
"Police had given permission and approved the route of the rally, but suddenly this morning the permission was taken away. Heavy contingent of police was deployed and people coming to attend peaceful rally were hit with tear gas shells and water cannon," Imran Khan further said.
The PTI chief also said: "There was a massive police deployment to try to prevent PTI workers from attending the rally. It is clear that the government does not want election."
Polls in Punjab, as well as in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – due on 30 April – were announced after the dissolution of the provincial assemblies of both regions which together account for 70% of Pakistan's population. The two assemblies were governed by Khan's PTI. Imran Khan had called for their dissolution in a bid to force early national elections in Pakistan which are scheduled for October.
The government of his successor, Shehbaz Sharif, has dismissed Imran Khan's demands, saying the vote will take place as scheduled later in the year.