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Former Prime Minister Imran Khan's social media campaign against the Pakistan army to pave way for early elections may backfire him with the defence forces clearly annoyed with the move, reported local media.
Notably, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman (PTI) chairman is pursuing a policy of pressurising the military establishment to intervene and hold early elections, however, the defence forces have clearly denied interfering in the matter, reported The News International. The campaign which is being run by a sizeable number of social media PTI followers, who Imran Khan has termed as his "social media warriors", against the army and its chief has miffed the military establishment. According to defence sources, the army has all the evidence on how these smear campaigns against the army and its chief have been run and details are expected to be made public 'at the right time'. Further, the defence sources said that the army will maintain its apolitical stance and will not pressurize anyone to hold early elections. Such issues need to be discussed and decided by the politicians among themselves, added the sources. While a senior PTI leader refuted the reports of Imran Khan being involved in such campaigns, he admitted that the party wants to pressurise the establishment to pave the way for early elections, reported the media outlet. Notably, in his speech at the Lahore rally last week, Imran Khan, without naming the army, had subtly said that 'whoever made the mistake' of ousting him can rectify their mistake by holding early elections. According to observers, Khan was sending out a clear message to the military establishment. Moreover, while PTI sources claim that Imran Khan has always supported the army, some political observers noted that neither Khan nor any of the party's top leadership did anything to stop his supporters from waging the smear campaign against the army. Meanwhile, the PTI has decided to stage a sit-in in Islamabad until the announcement of the next general elections. In a video message, Khan asked PTI workers and the people of the country to make preparations for his call for a march on Islamabad in the next few weeks, according to the media outlet. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday said it cannot hold general elections before May 2023. (ANI)
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