Leading Pakistani opposition politician Imran Khan has told the BBC his opponents in elections next week will “lose because of their track record” when in power.
Mr Khan dismissed concerns about the fairness of the elections.
“The status quo parties are suddenly saying the elections won’t be free and fair. The reason is all the opinion polls show the PTI is surging… so they’re already seeing the writing on the wall.”
Supporters of the PML-N party, in power for the past five years, and human rights groups allege the Pakistani military is “engineering” the result to ensure Mr Khan’s PTI party wins.
The elections are widely seen as a contest between the PTI, and the PML-N, dominated by the family of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Mr Khan told the BBC his party’s campaign was “a mission to see Pakistan rise again”.
The former cricketer has made fighting corruption his main policy issue. His rival, Mr Sharif, was sentenced to 10 years in jail by an anti-corruption court earlier this month, the culmination of an investigation Mr Khan pressed for.
Mr Khan told the BBC he believed the trial had raised awareness of the knock-on effects of corruption. “That’s how a country doesn’t have the money for its expenditure, it doesn’t have money for human development.”
source and more: