Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan says party will quit all assemblies

Pakistan’s former prime minister and leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan announced late Saturday that his party has decided to quit all legislative assemblies in the country in a bid to force the incumbent rulers to announce early elections.

Pakistan’s Express Tribune reportedthat Khan, 70, said he discussed the matter of stepping down from all legislative assemblies with the chief ministers and the final decision will be announced after the party’s parliamentary party meeting.

“Instead of causing harm to our country, it is better to leave this corrupt system,” he said.

Khan also said that the party’s long march to Islamabad will also stop as he does not want chaos and anarchy to grip the country.

“They [the government] cannot afford the Islamabad march… they cannot stop millions from entering Islamabad. We could have created a Sri Lanka-like situation,” he said, addressing his party’s gathering in Rawalpindi on Saturday.

“If riots take place then things will get out of everyone’s hands. I tried my best not to take any step which could create chaos in the country,” he added.

“Today I am deciding against marching on Islamabad because we don’t want to spread anarchy in the country,” he announced. “We will not remain part of this corrupt system. We have decided to quit all legislative assemblies.”

This comes after Khan was shot in the leg at a rally earlier this month.