 "Break away PTI members but announce elections: Imran tells Pak govt")
Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan has issued a message to the government to break away as many party members as it wants for the next two to three weeks but announce elections afterwards, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.
Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.
Khan said: "Give yourself time. If you want to take two or three weeks, then break away as many people as you want. At the rate you're going, you have already broken many and many more will break ... but it is my request to give a timeframe because the country is heading towards destruction."
The PTI chief further said: "The economy is sinking ... so give yourself a timeframe of two to three weeks but then announce elections when you think you've broken away enough people from the PTI that it's no longer able of contesting elections."
Imran Khan has also urged the country's top judiciary to take suo motu notice of the alleged abuse, including "reports of rape", of its female party workers and supporters who were arrested following the May 9 riots, Pakistan based The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Khan's allegations come hours after Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed in a press conference that intelligence agencies had intercepted a call revealing a plot to stage a fake encounter and rape incident by members of the PTI.
Imran while addressing PTI supporters from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, said: "After [Rana Sanaullah's] press conference, I have no doubt. The PTI women workers, the way they were detained and thrown in jail, and the way they were being treated...we also heard [reports] of rape.