News. And now, in a change of programming, Stephen Sackur speaks to the former Prime Minister of pakistan, imran khan, in an interview recorded in lahore, on wednesday. Welcome to hardtalk. Im Stephen Sackur. How grave is the risk of pakistan spiralling into political and Security Chaos . Terror attacks continue to impose a heavy toll whilst the nation braces for a potentially destabilising election season. And at the heart of the political turbulence, my guest today, former Prime Minister imran khan, currently facing close to 200 charges which threaten his pti partys ability to mount an electoral challenge. Has pakistans populist political star been outmanoeuvred by the generals who once backed him . Imran khan, in lahore, pakistan, welcome to hardtalk. From the outside, mr khan, it looks as though a legal noose is tightening around your neck. Does it feel that way to you . Yes, stephen. Its been like that for a while, ever since i was out of power 1a months, 15 months ago. What was h
Does it feel that way to you . Yes, stephen. Its been like that for a while, ever since i was out of power 1a months, 15 months ago. What was hoped by the establishment which removed me, what they hoped was that the party would just fizzle away. And normally it happens when youre out of power, youre out of power for quite a while. But instead, what happened . The most unusual thing in this country that the partys popularity kept growing, and that in the by elections that took place, out of 37 by elections, my party swept 30 of them. And this is despite the establishment backing the government parties. So since then, attempts are being made to knock me out of the game. I had two Assassination Attempts on me. And apart from that, now i have close to my double century almost 200 cases. And the whole attempt is to either imprison me or disqualify me or both. Yeah, you talk about being knocked out of the game. Isnt the reality, now that there are these pretty much 200 cases against you, whi
it s six in the morning in singapore, and one in the morning in turkey where voting has closed in one of the most critical elections. the country is deciding whether president erdohan remains in power after 20 years. it is expected to be a close race between him and an opposition leader kemal k l cdaroglu. he is a former civil servant who heads an alliance of six opposition parties, both secular and islamist. he promised to scrap many of the powers acquired by mr erdogan and return turkey to a parliamentary system. and also called for better relations with the west including renewal of turkey s bid for membership of the eu. the current leader recep tayyip erdogan first came to power as prime minister in 2003 and became president in 2014. under him turkey enjoyed strong economic growth, but it s been hit by high inflation, and the recent earthquakes in which tens of thousands died. he s also become increasingly authoritarian with more powers in the hands of the president,
it s seven in the morning in singapore, and two in the morning in turkey where voting has closed in one of the most critical elections. the country is deciding whether president erdohan remains in power after 20 years. it is expected to be a close race between him and an opposition leader kemal k l cdaroglu. he is a former civil servant who heads an alliance of six opposition parties, both secular and islamist. he promised to scrap many of the powers acquired by mr erdogan and return turkey to a parliamentary system. and also called for better relations with the west including renewal of turkey s bid for membership of the eu. the current leader recep tayyip erdogan first came to power as prime minister in 2003 and became president in 2014. under him turkey enjoyed strong economic growth, but it s been hit by high inflation, and the recent earthquakes in which tens of thousands died. he s also become increasingly authoritarian with more powers in the hands of the president