On May 15, 2024, a claim was shared on social media platform X that anchorperson and journalist Hamid Mir predicted the formation of a government by PTI founder Imran Khan in June’s last week. However, Mir himself confirmed that he said no such thing.
Hamid Mir predicts formation of Imran Khan’s government in June’s last week
The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and established that it is false.
To arrive at this verdict, the team contacted anchorperson and journalist Hamid Mir directly to verify the claim.
On May 15, 2024, a post was shared on X by the fan page of journalist Kashif Abbasi with the caption, “Imran Khan’s government can be formed in June’s last week: senior journalist Hamid Mir.”
The post garnered over 45,000 views on X. Notably, the post made no mention of the time, place, venue or setting where the anchorperson allegedly made the prediction.
The same claim was then shared by various PTI supporters on X here, here, here and here with a total of 26,000 views.
The iVerify Pakistan sought to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality, the public’s keen interest in developments about currently incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan and because the claim was alleged to be originating from a widely respected journalist such as Mir.
To investigate the claim, the iVerify Pakistan team checked Mir’s recent talk shows and interviews to see if he made any such statement but found none.
The team then contacted him directly via WhatsApp and asked him about the claim.
Mir told iVerify Pakistan, “First of all, I never said this anywhere. Secondly, it is an illogical claim because Imran Khan is not a member of Parliament, so how can he form a government?”
He further said, “Those who are using my name are actually playing with the feelings of Imran Khan’s supporters.”
Mir concluded his response by categorically saying, “I am denying it (the claim) and I think some people are doing this without any fear because the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) doesn’t take any action when I report these things to them.”
On August 5, 2023, the PTI founder was sentenced to three years of imprisonment by an Islamabad trial court in a case related to state gifts.
The case, filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan, accused the PTI leader of not mentioning the details of state gifts in his tax declarations. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) set aside the sentence on Aug 29 and ordered his release. However, he was not freed as he was undergoing trial in the cipher and other cases.
On May 15, 2024, the IHC approved Imran’s bail in the £190 million corruption case, but the PTI founder currently remains incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
The current government is led by a PML-N and PPP coalition while the PTI is in the opposition.
The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim regarding Mir’s statement about Imran forming the government by the end of June is false.
The journalist himself denied making any such statement regarding Imran when contacted.
