PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday claimed that former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had a “deal” in place with ex-president Asif Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, citing it as the reason why corruption could not be rooted out during his government.

Speaking to journalists at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Imran termed the alleged deal as the reason why accountability of the corrupt could not reach a logical conclusion.

Imran said that when the PTI was in power, the National Accountability Bureau was under Gen (r) Bajwa’s control. “There is no rule of law. Only the powerful rule this country.”

“We found out during the last year of my government’s tenure that Gen Bajwa does not want accountability to take place,” Imran said, adding that he would’ve “cleansed” the entire country of corruption had he had an “appropriate” army chief.

The former prime minister said that the “regime change operation” was supposed to hurt the PTI but it instead ended up boosting the party’s popularity. “Gen Bajwa kept thinking that the rise of PTI will decrease but that did not happen.”

Imran alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan was under the control of the establishment.

Responding to a question pertaining to the foreign funding case, Imran said PPP and PML-N do not have any receipt of the foreign funding received by them whereas PTI has data of 40,000 donors.

“Supreme Court said the foreign funding cases of all the political parties should be heard together,” he recalled.

Talking about the prevailing political situation, the ex-PM said that he would not tarnish the trust of the public for the sake of power. “I will not make any deal to form a government again.”

Imran predicted that general elections will take place around March-April, adding that his party’s MNAs will visit the National Assembly on Monday to confirm their resignations.

Elections do not happen by way of predictions: information minister

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb responded to Imran’s prediction of the election date.

“Elections do not take place by [way of] predictions, They take place after the completion of the constitutional term,” she said.

She reinforced that the incumbent government would complete its full term by October of next year. “100% Pakistanis think that free and fair general elections are the only way to rid the country of its problems.”

Additional reporting by Nadir Guramani.