Islamabad, Dec 6 (Agency) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said that he is willing to give up his political office rather than to give an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) to the opposition. Khan made the comments during an interview given to a local news channel, Dawn reported. He added that he will leave the office of prime minister but will never betray the country by giving relief to the opposition.
Khan further said that the opposition parties have been blackmailing the government since day one to grant them amnesty and said that the NRO given to the opposition by former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Musharraf has had disastrous effects upon the country, leading to an increase in debt liabilities. “Our biggest problem is that we have debt and there is a deficit between what we earn and what we spend,” Khan said in the interview. With regards the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) upcoming rally in Lahore on December 13, Khan said that the government has decided to not grant them permission for staging the demonstration, even as he said that the government would not stop the opposition from participating in the rally. He said that the reason for not giving the opposition permission to hold their rally was to safeguard the health of the Pakistani society in general especially in view of the rise in the number of COVID cases. He maintained that the government had cancelled its own rallies and public gatherings after the country witnessed an uptick in COVID-19 cases.