Published: Jun 11, 2013, 03:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 11, 2013, 03:40 PM (IST)
Cricker-turned-politician Imran Khan did not identify who was behind the move © Getty Images
By M Zulqarnain
Lahore: Jun 11, 2013
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has claimed that a plot was hatched to assassinate him during an election rally in Punjab before Pakistan‘s general elections on May 11.
“I was informed by the government before the May 11 polls that there was a plot to assassinate me at an election rally on GT Road,” Khan said while talking to a group of journalists at his residence at Zaman Park here yesterday.
The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf did not give other details about the plot. He also did not identify who was behind the move.
60-year-old Khan has not fully recovered from serious spinal injuries sustained when he fell from a forklift during an election rally in Lahore on May 7.
Doctors have advised him more rest and he is confined to his home in Lahore. He is yet to take oath as member of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament.
A staunch supporter of the independent judiciary led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Khan said both the judiciary and the Election Commission had disappointed him with their role during the recent election.
Khan said his party will launch a countrywide protest after the Eid-ul-Fitr festival in August if its reservations regarding the results of the general election are not addressed by authorities.
“We’ll be on the roads to hold the largest protest demonstrations after Eid if rigging on polling day is not investigated in a transparent manner,” he said.
“The umpires did not remain neutral and became partial in the electoral match,” he said.
Despite Khan’s claims that his party would sweep the polls and that he would become the prime minister, the Tehrik-e-Insaf won less than three dozen seats in the 342-member National Assembly.
