Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan says the country has always had problems when it comes to it civil-military relations. We all know the history, he says.

The PM asked, however, that if mistakes were made in the past by an Army chief, do we have to call them wrong forever?

He was speaking on SAMAA TV’s programme Nadeem Malik Live in an interview with anchorperson Nadeem Malik on Thursday.

“If Justice Munir made a wrong decision. Do we have to call the judiciary wrong forever?” he asked Malik, saying that if politicians steal money and get it out of the Country, does it mean all should be called bad?

“The point is that the past is just to learn. We learned that the military’s work is not to run the country. If democracy is harming the country, it doesn’t mean that martial law replaces it,” he said.

The PM said we have to fix democracy. “If the judiciary is taking the wrong decision then it doesn’t mean we condemn the judiciary,” he said.

“Our military has evolved. The current civil-military relations are the best they’ve been in Pakistan’s history,” he said.

“The reason is that the Pakistan Army is completely standing behind the democractic government,” he said.

The PM spoke about former prime Minister Nawaz Sharif too.

“Nawaz Sharif was never a democrat. First, they were nourished by the army. It started from General Jilani and then General Zia,” he said.

“He [Nawaz] has now become a super democrat. His first problem was with Ghulam Ishaq, Asif Janjua, then Pervez Musharraf and Raheel Sharif and Qamar Javed Bajwa,” the PM said.

he praised Pakistan’s security agencies ISI and MI and called ISI a world-class agency. “They come to know of their thievery,” he said.

“They [Nawaz Sharif] control the civilian institutions. They attacked the supreme court. There problem was that the army was not in their control.”

“I was watching a programme… Zaheer-ul-Islam told me to resign. You are the prime minister, how dare he say it to you? Go taken on them.”

The PM said when Nawaz went to Sri Lanka, he called General Zia and said he is making him the army chief.

“If any army chief had attacked Kargil without asking me, I would have summoned him before me and sacked him,” the PM said.

“You are sitting outside and asking people to come out to save your thievery. The public doesn’t come out its way and they can’t bring the public on the roads,” he said.

“They [the opposition] are hitting our institutions while sitting outside [the country]. They are hitting our army and our judiciary,” he said, questioning what their motive is.

“They are trying to put pressure on the institutions to get an NRO,” he said.

“What’s the difference between me and General Musharraf? General Musharraf gave them an NRO to save his power. If today, someone asks me whether I want to protect my power or give them an NRO, I would say I am ready to leave power but won’t give them an NRO,” he said.

“They know I won’t give them an NRO. I had predicted earlier that they will all come together and will pressure Pakistan’s institution… they will put pressure on me but they know I won’t buy it,” he said, adding they would pressurise the judiciary, NAB and army.

He said if any kind of compromise is made, there will be a moral collapse.

“When you come under pressure from such thieves and make compromises, the country gets destroyed,” he said.

The premier spoke about the recent controversy surrounding Lieutenant General (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa and his assets. “An accusation was leveled against him. He produced a detailed document with answers. If anyone disputes it, give it to us and we will get it investigated,” the premier said.

He emphasised on the moral power of a democratic government. “I am the only Pakistani politician who was given everything by god,” he said.

The PM said he had enough money for his lifestyle. “I live in my home and I bear my own expenses,” he said, adding that when he came to power, he had said he won’t do any business while in power.

“My assets have come down. I have sold the plot that I was given by my father. All my assets are declared. When you do business after coming to the power, it is corruption,” he said.

Coming back to the opposition, the PM said they say they are not seeking an NRO. “They tried to change 34 clauses of the 38 clauses of the FATF bill and all of them were related to NAB,” he said, adding that they have a right to hold a peaceful protest. “The moment they break the law, I will send each one of them to jail.”

“Pakistan’s 17 million people elected me prime minister. I won the elections on five National Assembly seats. Why would I resign on the demand of such thieves?” he asked.

“They said Imran Khan is a selected prime minister. I asked them to investigate rigging in four constituencies. We went to every forum for investigation for a year but they didn’t open any constituency for investigation,” he said, adding that he did not mean the army when he referred to the umpire’s finger.

The PML-N government had given General Raheel Sharif the role of a mediator during the 2014 sit-in, said PM Khan, adding that General Raheel asked them to end the dharna and they said they wouldn’t.

“If the opposition resigns, we will hold elections on their seats again,” said PM Khan.

The PM says he is ready for anything. “They can do whatever they want,” he said.

“When the money of your leaders is stashed outside the country, they can never take an independent stand. I am not worried because my living and dying is in Pakistan. I would never leave Pakistan.”

After the senate elections, legistation will be easy for us, he said, adding that democracy works when the opposition protects the people’s interest by keeping a check and balance on the government.

The story is being updated