See elections happening in Pakistan in 8 weeks time; Fawad Chaudhry, ex-Pak minister tells WION

Former information minister and key leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Fawad Chaudhary believes that general elections will be held in eight weeks' time. He made the remarks in an exclusive conversation with WION’s Anas Mallick in Islamabad.

“Imran Khan is a charismatic leader; people are behind him. We are heading towards a soft revolution; we are asking for elections. And we assure is that elections will happen, the only thing that Shehbaz Sharif's government has to decide is whether they want elections with lesser harm, or this will be harmful the path we are on. I think elections will be held in 8 weeks, the government will not be able to survive and that’s how big the momentum is going to be on the streets”, said Fawad Chaudhary when asked about how soon he believes that elections can be held in Pakistan.

Pakistan has been in political turmoil for the past sixweeks, with the tabling of the no-confidence motion that was followed by political instability and high drama, and the Supreme Court reinstating assemblies that eventually lead to the ouster ofImran Khan's government

Chaudhary, who is among the 123 lawmakers of the former government to have resigned, said that the decision to exit from the parliament was for “not giving legitimacy to a foreign-sponsored government”.

When asked about the military rebuking his party chair and former premier Imran Khan’s claim of foreign conspiracy to oust their government, Fawad said, “I think ISPR [the publicity wing of the military] has confirmed the existence of the letter and that of an internal conspiracy [by mentioning about interference], they have reiterated the National Security Committee”.

When asked about the controversy surrounding Pakistan’s powerful military establishment giving options to Khan as claimed by him in an interview, following the response by the military spokesperson, Fawad said cautiously it wasn’t appropriate to say one approached or the other.

“There was a discussion and no one really gave any options, which any sane mind would have in a crisis. The Army generals were worried about Pakistan’s situation as much as we were and during discussion it popped up, I won’t deny it but the manner in which its being said that we approached, or they approached is not correct”.

Fawad emphasised that his government led by Imran Khan had an independent foreign policy and it was a first in over 40 years, since the rule of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, praising how Imran Khan handled the Afghan crisis, maintained the balance and made sure the issue of Islamophobia was registered and highlighted.

He added that his leader Imran Khan praised India’s foreign policy vis-a-vis its relations with the West, Imran Khan understands India very well and is very popular there, if today he holds a public gathering in Delhi, it will be as big as PM Modi’s public gathering, however the chances of peace between India and Pakistan are hampered due to Indian government's ill-advised moves on Kashmir, he maintained.

Defending the promulgation of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2022 ordinance, Fawad said that he would be supporting the future governments in their fight against fake news. The law was called a draconian and unconstitutional measure by the Islamabad High Court while striking it down.

Fawad, who was one of the most progressive voices during the previous Imran Khan government, batted for inclusiveness of the Madrassa curriculum, but admitted that there were some problems during their previous government, through their own people within Punjab where schools were rather tried to be brought under the Madrassa curriculum but should have been the other way around.