Government not engaged with Imran Khan for any negotiation: Pakistan's Interior Minister

Islamabad [Pakistan], October 18 : Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the coalition government is not engaged with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan for any negotiation.
Addressing media persons, Sanaullah said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) coalition government is not engaged with Imran Khan for any negotiation, adding that PTI Chief has always nixed the talks while he was in the government, Geo News reported.
The minister further added that Imran Khan is mistaken if he believes that the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) led-government will announce the pre-election due to his rally in Islamabad.
"We have preferred protecting the state rather than our politics," he said. "The time for taking tough decisions is over as the government has steered the country clear of the state of the declining economy."
Taking a dig at Imran Khan's recent statement, Sanaullah said the former Prime Minister is once again threatening to bring large crowds to Islamabad. It is inappropriate to make such claims again given what happened on May 25, according to Geo News.
Talking about the recent humiliating defeat in the election, the Interior Minister said that overbilling in the power utility bills has benefited the PTI. He further added that PTI grabbed an extra ten to 15 thousand votes in the elections that took place on Sunday.
The overbilling of electricity bills not only caused people to suffer a lot but also dealt a blow to the PML-N politically, he explained. The minister, however, said the PML-N leadership has been busy with flood relief in the meantime.
To justify the results of the elections in Faisalabad, the minister again stated that power loom factories are shut down because they could not pay their bills, reported Geo News.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan, who is currently on the ninth cloud for winning Sunday's election, warned Shehbaz Sharif-led government that the anti-government "Azadi March" would not be delayed past October as they have completed their preparations.
In a press conference, the PTI chairman said: "My march will be held in October if the government does not announce the date for the next general election," reported Geo News.
The PTI chief warned the government that multitudes of people would take to the streets responding to his call to the nation for the anti-government march.
Khan said he was still cutting the government some slack so that they could decide on it. "I am actually giving them some more time before embarking on our long march protest."
While conversing with ARY News about the election, Imran Khan reiterated that the only solution to the country's current political and economic crisis was "immediate and transparent" elections.
Khan further said that the ruling coalition government of Shehbaz Sharif was so afraid of his popularity as it would not announce elections.
He accused his political rivals - Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari - of attempting to delay elections, saying they are afraid to announce elections because of PTI's growing popularity and recent polls' result.
In response to a question, the PTI Chairman accused the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Raja Sultan of sabotaging
electronic voting machines (EVMs) with the support of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), reported ARY News.
Referring to the chief election commissioner, the former premier said that the biggest political party - PTI - has expressed reservations over Sultan Raja. "He [Raja] wasn't leaving the seat despite reservations," he added.
"We had introduced EVMs to hold transparent elections in the country, but CEC Sikandar Raja sabotaged it with the support of PML-N," he said, accusing the electoral watchdog of being biased. A day earlier, Imran Khan made history by emerging victorious on six National Assembly seats in Sunday by-elections, according to unofficial results.
PTI managed to secure six out of eight National Assembly seats in the crucial by-election on Sunday, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) clinched two -- NA-157 Multan and NA-237 Karachi -- which were bagged by the PTI in the 2018 general elections.