“This situation emerged after the PTI won the Punjab by-election on July 17,” the PTI leader said in a press conference in Lahore. PTI won 16 of the 20 seats in the by-eleciton on the seats of the 25 lawmakers who were disqualified for voting against the instructions of party head.

Umar said that the coalition government views Imran Khan as a threat to the “old system”. He lauded Imran’s leadership and said that he stood up against those ‘conspiring behind closed doors’.

He reiterated that the people of Punjab rejected the ‘imported government’ and chose PTI in the election for the chief minister of Punjab.

Umar lashed out at the coalition government for arresting PTI leader Shahbaz Gill, saying that a warrant was issued before the arrest.

“You may disagree with what Shahbaz Gill said, but the use of force is not appropriate,” he said, adding that a case should be registered against him. “He should be asked in the court why he made the statement,” said the PTI leader.

He said that Shahbaz Gill was assaulted while he was being taken into custody. A 2 minute 20 secong long CCTV footage of the arrest show officers breaking the windows of the Gill’s car with the butt of their weapons. They they manhandle Gill upon resistance while escorting him to another vehicle and whisking him away.

Umar said that FIRs were registered against those who have been raising voices against the government. “This will continue as the government is panicking.”

Rejecting the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision regarding the the prohibited funding case, he said that the report presented by the election commission had flaws.

He said that the ECP had dropped the use of the phrase “foreign funding”. “How did it start using it again when it is not even mentioned in the law,” the PTI leader questioned.

He said that the report presented fake information regarding the fund donors and maintained that the fundraisers themselves surfaced and provided all mandatory information regarding the funds.

“Two fundraising events were held and all the funds gathered by overseas Pakistanis were shown in the name of Arif Naqvi,” the PTI leader said. The ECP exercised its power beyond its limits while announcing the verdict, he concluded.