Imran Khan warns of massive protests if Article 62 amended

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has threatened that he would lead the country's largest-ever protest movement if Article 62 of the Constitution was amended.

"There is a conspiracy in progress aimed to scrap Article 62, which makes it mandatory for the elected representatives to be Sadiq (truthful) and Ameen (honest). PTI will thwart any such efforts and thousands of people will protest in Islamabad against such move," Dawn quoted Khan as saying while addressing a public gathering in Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi on Sunday.

Khan's remarks came after former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had said in Lahore that there was a need to amend the Constitution.

Criticising Sharif's recent public statements and his GT Road rally, Khan said it was a last-ditch effort on behalf of the PML-N to pressurise the National Accountability Bureau, which is investigating Sharif family members following the apex court's judgment in the Panamagate case.

Dismissing Sharif's claim that the Judiciary had stolen the people's mandate by disqualifying him, Khan said the people of Pakistan never gave him the mandate to steal public money and indulge in money laundering.

He said Sharif had failed to fulfil the promise against which people had bestowed him their mandate.

Khan said Sharif's recent statements seem to suggest that he is busy targeting the army and the judiciary.

Khan challenged Sharif that he will gather 10 times more people in support of the judiciary and the army than the crowds he attracted during his GT Road rally.

He further said that Sharif cannot fool all people every time.

While giving the blueprint of his vision about his new Pakistan, Khan said, "A system of taxation supporting the poor will be established, while reforms will be introduced in the health and education sectors, and government-owned facilities would provide state-of-the-art education and health to the poor."

The PTI chief said that accountability would be ensured at every level in the new Pakistan as there can be no good governance without it.