Govt will never surrender to Imran's wishes: Saad Rafique.

LAHORE -- Federal Minister for Railways and Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique has said that what Imran Khan wants will never happen, as the government will never surrender to his desires.

'Whatever you want, it will not come to pass. It will not be done because you are a fascist. You don't have any connection with democracy. You have abrogated the Constitution. You are 'falsely' popular,' the minister lashed out at PTI chief Imran Khan at a news conference here at the Pakistan Railways (PR) headquarters on Monday.

'You (IK) have a cult-following. And [we] will not hand over this country to a man having such following,' he declared.

Describing Mr Khan and his facilitators as thieves and Sicilian Mafia, the minister asked them to apologise to the nation for promoting and installing a party that had allegedly destroyed everything in the country.

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'Not we, you are thieves. Not we, you are the Sicilian Mafia. Instead of seeking pardon individually and covertly, you all (IK's facilitators) must seek pardon collectively from the nation.'

He alleged that Imran Khan's facilitators (within the establishment and the judiciary) had now started efforts to bring the PTI chief back to power at a time when the PDM-led government is trying hard to clean the mess created by Imran Khan.

Mr Rafique said the opposition threw Mr Khan out in a constitutional way, but his facilitators had started fresh efforts to bring him back. 'We undertook the work to clear the mess created by him [Imran] that caused further inflation,' he said, adding the PDM government did this at the cost of its political capital. And now, he lamented, by highlighting the same pretext of inflation before the public, they (the facilitators) are trying to install him again.

'We know what's happening. You [facilitators] can do whatever you want, but we will not give space to Imran Khan,' he warned.

In reply to a question, the minister termed the April 30 date for elections in Punjab and KP unrealistic. According to him, it was done in isolation to support a particular party. How long will PTI be given special treatment, he questioned.

Recalling the previous PML-N government, he deplored that state institutions (establishment, judiciary and some journalists) had joined hands to remove a well-performing government under a conspiracy, repeatedly called opposition leaders as looters and thieves, rigged...