Pakistan's Imran Khan says his party to dissolve two local assemblies on December 23

His party controls two of the country's four provincial assemblies

Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Saturday made the much-awaited announcement that his governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will dissolve their provincial assemblies on December 23 to pave the way for fresh elections.

In an address to the nation via a video link from his Lahore's residence where the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief ministers were also present by his side on Saturday evening, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman said only fresh elections can steer the country out of economic crisis.

"We are heading towards default and only fresh and fair polls is a solution to Pakistan's economic problems," he said as he announced the date for the dissolution of provincial assemblies.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif led government has declared that the next general elections will be held after this government completes its tenure in August 2023.

Khan said whether or not the ruling PML-N coalition government agrees to conduct fresh elections across the country, his announcement will make sure that 65 per cent of Pakistan will go into polls after the dissolution of both assemblies.

He thanked the two provincial chief ministers for their cooperation with his party and said that he had consulted PTI’s lawyers about the move, adding that the Constitution did not allow elections to be delayed beyond 90 days of an assembly’s dissolution.

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Last month, Khan said that his party would disassociate itself from the “current corrupt political system” by quitting the two provincial assemblies.

The decision to dissolve assemblies was met with great objection from PML-N and PPP leaders — the main forces of the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement government. Later, the PML-N had announced that it was ready to contest elections in case the PTI continued with its decision to dissolve the two assemblies.

Khan told the nation to refrain from being disappointed, saying it was akin to “running away from our duty to society”, the Dawn newspaper reported.

He said a “lesson should be taught through elections” to the government and deal it “such a defeat that the names of these thieves are wiped out forever”, it said.

Meanwhile, the PML-N has announced bringing no trust motions against the chief ministers of both provinces to foil their plan to dissolve the assemblies on the wish of former premier Khan.

"Over 100 lawmakers in Punjab have signed a no-confidence motion against CM Parvez Elahi and we may submit it in the Punjab Assembly coming week," Prime minister's Sepcial Assistant Atta Tarar told PTI.

Khan, 70, again blamed former army chief Gen (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa in his address for ousting him from power.

"Who is responsible for the current affairs of the country, especially economy? Gen Bajwa is responsible for this... he was responsible for the regime change. When he was the army chief, I didn’t speak against him because I didn't want to bring disrepute to the institution of the army," he said.

Khan has been targeting Gen Bajwa and some senior ISI officers ever since his ouster from power in April by a no-confidence motion.

He said on Friday that he was "completely helpless" as the premier as the "real man in power" was Bajwa, who called all the shots. He accused Bajwa of causing more damage to the country than an enemy could have done in his address to the nation from his Lahore residence on Wednesday.

Early this month, Khan accused Bajwa of playing a “double game” against his government and said that he committed a “big mistake” by extending the tenure of the then military chief in 2019.

Bajwa, 61, retired on November 29 after getting a three-year extension in 2019 by the then Prime Minister Khan, who turned out to be the biggest critic of the Pakistan Army.

In his farewell address last week, General Bajwa said that his decision to keep the military establishment “apolitical” will shield it from the “vagaries of politics” in the coup-prone country.

Since Pakistan was created 75 years ago, the Army has seized power three times and directly ruled the country for almost four decades.

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Khan, who is recovering from the bullet wounds he received during a Wazirabad rally on November 3, bemoaned the current economic situation of the country and contrasted that with his government’s performance.

He lamented the brain drain ongoing in the country, saying that skilled people and professionals were leaving the country in droves.

“Our loans are piling up. There was only one way to solve this which we did: to increase the country’s wealth. They (the government) don’t have a plan,” he said.

Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.

The former cricketer-turned-politician, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

He alleged that the no-confidence vote was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. The US has denied the allegations.