Islamabad, July 19 (IANS) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Monday said the country faced no threat from the army, but from the "monarchy of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif".
However, instead of saying that people would celebrate Pakistan Army's takeover of government, modifying his earlier statement, the former Pakistan cricketer said that if Sharif was in place of Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan, the coup would have succeeded, Dawn online reported.
Imran, recalling the 1999 coup, said when General Pervez Musharraf deposed Sharif, people of Pakistan did not come out on the roads the way Turkish people did last Friday night.
"Instead, they celebrated the dismissal and distributed sweets," he said.
Imran Khan said Pakistani people were more democracy-loving than their Turkish brethren but they did not support Sharif because the Prime Minister was amassing wealth.
Pakistan could become one of the great countries only if corruption was eliminated from it, Imran Khan said referring to Sharif family's name figuring in the Panama Paper leaks on offshore firms.
"British Prime Minister David Cameron clarified his position in parliament and when the Iceland Prime Minister failed to do so, he resigned. Contrarily, Sharif left the country for 48 days in the name of medical treatment," Imran Khan said referring to Sharif's stay in London following his open heart surgery on May 31.
