Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has penned a third open letter to Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, reiterating election rigging allegations and “bringing money launderers” into power, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
“The PTI founder, in his letter to the army chief, has raised the issue of giving preference to the minority over the majority through election fraud,” his lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said in a statement.
The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who has been behind bars since August 2023, penned two “open letters” to the army chief on Feb 3 and Feb 8, which he said were written “because all democratic avenues had been obstructed”.
In previous letters, Imran pointed out what he claimed was a growing distance between the military and the public. In his letters, the former premier penned six points and urged the army to reevaluate its policy to win over the public with reasons and suggestions proposed by Imran to remedy the situation.
In a statement today, Chaudhry quoted Imran as saying that “money launderers were brought to power through election rigging”. Imran further said that terrorism was on the rise due to a lack of rule of law, he added.
“Imran says at least 1.8 million people have left the country, whereas $20 billion in capital flew out of the country,” he added.
Separately, Chaudhry said PTI still stands by the demand for the constitution of judicial commissions on events related to May 9, 2023, events and the events of November 26, 2024.
He further alleged that a crackdown on PTI workers in Punjab was still underway after the February 8 general elections.
Meanwhile, PTI chief whip Aamir Dogar has been made part of the negotiation committee with the opposition. “It has been decided to add some new members to the political committee,” he added.
The letters held importance as the former ruling party ended its negotiations with the PML-N-led government last month, in which the PTI had demanded two things — the formation of judicial commissions on events that transpired on May 9, 2023, and November 24-27 as well as the release of “all political prisoners”, including Khan.
In December last year, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that no political leader’s desire for power should be more important than Pakistan’s interests.
The ISPR top spokesperson’s comments came in response to a question about purported backdoor talks between the PTI and the establishment.
“All political parties and leaders are respectable to us. No individual, his politics and his desire for power are above Pakistan,” he said during a media briefing.
‘Letters aim to create rift between army, public’
The government, on the other hand, earlier reacted strongly to Imran’s move to write letters to the army chief, with PM’s Adviser on Public and Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah saying that they intend to create divisions between the military and the public or sow misunderstandings within the army’s command.
Sanaullah questioned the origin of Khan’s letters from jail, asking: “Where are these letters coming from? If he wants to engage in political struggle, he should do so in the parliament.”
Meanwhile, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui said that Khan’s letter to Gen Asim Munir was proof of the former’s “despair and frustration”.
He termed Imran’s letter to the army chief a “charge sheet,” saying that the former prime minister had also sent a letter to COAS via former president Arif Alvi in 2023.
“They [PTI] did not receive a receipt or a reply to the previous letter, and will not receive this time as well,” Siddiqui added.
