Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday said US President Donald Trump would have easily won this month’s presidential election against all odds had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview on Express News programme ‘To The Point’, the prime minister cited the example of Trump’s re-election loss to say that although media had a very important role in society, it wasn’t a threat to the rule of a country’s leader.
“I have no problems with [criticism in] the media. Media can only cause a temporary loss,” Khan told the host.
“The classic example is of Donald Trump. The way the entire mainstream media attacked [him], it appeared as if Trump would lose by a landslide. [Instead] he bagged the highest number of votes in American history (for a sitting president); it’s another matter that [Joe] Biden received even more.”
Khan said if Covid-19 had not caused widespread unemployment and deaths in the US, “then Donald Trump would have won no matter what the media did”.
He said media had a big role but it sometimes didn’t exhibit “responsibility along with its freedom” and resorted to “propaganda, slander campaign” and disinformation which could hurt government efforts for an economic revival.
Recalling his association with the media since his cricketing days, the PM said “criticism is an asset of society” and freedom of expression was crucial to the progression of human thought.
Khan dismissed opposition allegations of him having been “selected” by powers-that-be, saying his arch rival former prime minister Nawaz Sharif himself was launched into politics by military generals while Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had served as a minister under a military dictator for several years.
He said both Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz and PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would not have reached their positions if they hadn’t used their family connections.
Asked if he had “resisted” the army leadership on any issue in his ongoing stint, Khan said: “I would resist the army if it put any pressure on me. The army hasn’t ever asked me not to do a single thing that I wanted to do.”
He said the government’s foreign policy was following his party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s manifesto, including on ties with Afghanistan and Muslim countries.
The premier also defended the appointment of retired Lt General Asim Saleem Bajwa as the chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, saying he was the “best option” for the post because of his prior experience working in Balochistan as the commander of the Southern Command, and that there was no pressure to appoint him.
Asked why Bajwa’s resignation as special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting was subsequently accepted, Khan said he had been given that charge “temporarily” to help revamp the information ministry.
CANDID: Prime Minister Imran Khan felt the media had a big role but it sometimes didn’t exhibit u201cresponsibility along with its freedomu201d and resorted to u201cpropaganda, slander campaignu201d and disinformation which could hurt government efforts for an economic revival.
