Pakistan's ousted prime minister, Imran Khan says the people of Pakistan believe even a poor democracy would be better than a military government.
He spoke with ABC's India Now! Host Marc Fennell as he continues to rally grassroots support to demand new elections.
Protests have continued in Pakistan among supporters of the deposed prime minister, as the country also faces the serious challenges of rising inflation as well as soaring fuel and food prices.
How did he lose the prime ministership?
Mr Khan was ousted as prime minister on April 10 following a no-confidence vote.
He's since alleged this was part of a conspiracy, pushed by the United States administration because it was unhappy with his foreign policy decisions.
Yet there were claims that he'd lost crucial military support.
Since then, he's campaigned publicly to be returned to the Prime Minister's Office in Pakistan.
"I think there's consensus in the country that even a poor democratic government is better than a military government," Mr Khan told India Now!
"Because, when the military intervention takes place, we go back to square one."
An anti-corruption platform vs a crumbling economy
Elected in July, 2018, Mr Khan promised to fight corruption and fix the economy.
He maintains his government was balancing rising prices and economic sentiment.
However, as the cost of living in Pakistan rose, the opposition parties blamed him and the no-confidence motion followed.
His successors claim that the economic woes faced by Pakistan are his legacy.
He insisted the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and commodity prices worldwide were being managed, but the regime change sent the markets into meltdown.
No prime minister has completed a full term of office in Pakistan.
Mr Khan says his departure was different because it didn't occur under the shroud of corruption.
He argues that Pakistan has been ruled by the military for most of its history, its importance was enhanced by the threat posed by India, and two families — the Bhutto and Sharif families.
"These two families have been ruling Pakistan for 30 years — now, the parties that were fighting have joined hands and are in government."
Mr Khan was replaced in April by Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted in 2018 of having owned assets beyond his income.
"My government was replaced by a government where 60 per cent of the cabinet is on bail," Mr Khan says.
"Rather than having a roadmap to fix the economy, all they're doing is trying to get rid of the corruption cases of billions of rupees."
No foreign interference
Mr Khan claims he has evidence that the United States demanded change.
He alleges that, on March 7, 2022, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, sent a message to him through Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed Khan: "If I'm removed, then all will be forgiven."
"Now there is this American official, threatening our ambassador," Mr Khan says.
He's asked for an inquiry into his allegations that the US has participated in regime change.
"There is no truth to these allegations," a US State Department spokesman said in April after he first made the claim.
Mr Khan does not want any foreign interference in Pakistan.
"I don't want any support from foreign governments to get into power," Mr Khan says.
Why not just wait until the next election in 2023?
When asked this question by the India Now! host, Mr Khan replied: "Because, Marc, this is insulting for a country of 220 million people that an elected prime minister is removed by this conspiracy."
Mr Khan argued his policies on Afghanistan, Russian and China had upset Washington — he was in Moscow the day Putin's troops crossed the border.
He says he was there to negotiate wheat and oil supplies and, while the timing was bad, he didn't know what was about to occur.
He's also been dubbed "Taliban Khan" for his perceived support for the Taliban.
He insists the Taliban are a religious fundamentalist group, not terrorists.
"You know, somehow, we were made to be sort of friendly with Taliban, or sympathetic with them," Mr Khan explains.
"People like us are sympathetic with the people of Afghanistan and, right now, you have Taliban as a reality.
"The world should work with them, because there is no other reality in Afghanistan now."
On an episode of India Now!, that country's High Commissioner to Australia, Manpreet Vohra, said relations between India and Pakistan were strained because of Pakistan's support for terror organisations in the region.
Mr Khan rejects this and says Kashmir is the sticking point in the relationship — that is, he says, the denial of the Indian government for the Kashmiri people to determine their own future.
"India blames every incident that takes place in Kashmir on Pakistan," he explains.
"The answer is not blaming Pakistan. The answer is to give the people of Kashmir the right to decide their own future."
What next?
Imran Khan maintains the rule of law and an Islamic welfare state are the future of Pakistan he'd like to see.
"When I first went to England as a teenager, the two things that inspired me were the rule of law, and a welfare state," he says.
