LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has castigated the coalition government for not having the ability and foresight to handle the economy, national security matters and foreign policy, “hence, it was imperative to hold fresh elections immediately to stop the deterioration that we were seeing for the past seven months.”
He expressed these views while addressing the participants of PTI’s ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ march in Chakwal, Gujjar Khan and Buner through a video link from the provincial capital on Thursday.
The former prime minister said since this government has come, incidents of terrorism have increased, the latest being the martyrdom of six policemen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The government was only busy in pursuing a personal agenda,” he added.
He pointed out that Pakistan cannot afford more economic failure as the country was heading towards default and it was facing record inflation; “if we do not do something about it right now, unemployment, inflation and poverty will multiply in the country.”
“Free and fair elections were the only way forward, which can save the country from the ongoing fiasco, but Nawaz was against it, as he knew he would lose, he would not hold new elections till he was sure of winning it,” he added.
Khan kept PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif on his target by calling him a ‘powerful dacoit,’ “it was sad to notice that many common men were languishing in jail for petty crimes while powerful people like Nawaz were getting away with corruption”.
He again lamented over ‘thieves’ taking important decisions for the country. He accused the PML-N chief of influencing the appointment of the next army chief.
He claimed that Nawaz was looking for a ‘yes man’ who could implement his personal agenda. He was sure that Nawaz would order the new army chief to get rid of him (Khan) and close corruption cases against him (Nawaz). “The PML-N leader was not used to playing with a neutral umpire,” he added.
He reiterated that the PML-N chief has no stakes in the country since his wealth and entire family were abroad. Hence, what right a ‘convict’ has to make decisions about the country, he questioned.
The former premier also talked about the plight of farmers saying they were facing hardship in growing crops; “the increase in input costs due to withdrawal of subsidy, high power tariff and no subsidy on loans were the major challenges the farmers were facing.” “During my government, we gave maximum facilities and incentives to farmers,” he added.
He took notice of the sugar industries deliberately delaying the crushing season on the pretext of the government not allowing them to export sugar; “this will hurt farmers since their sugarcane crop was ready for harvest and the delay will damage their crops and subsequently they will face huge loses”. He urged the Punjab government to immediately announce the sugarcane support price and commence the crushing season without any further delay.
Khan lamented the lack of rule of law in the country saying that the Pakistanis migrate to Europe because of this.
“True freedom could never be achieved if the laws were different for the elite and the common man,” he said.
“In Pakistan, people are not getting justice in police stations and courts whereas in European countries they will be rewarded for their hard work. When businessmen go abroad, they don’t worry about unnecessary obstacles being created nor do they fear government officials asking them for bribes. Investment opportunities are dependent on the rule of law,” he said.
The PTI chairman stated that even if elections were announced, their struggle would continue till there was a rule of law.
He repeated that he would give the date for the long march’s arrival in Islamabad on Saturday (today) after consulting his doctors. He urged the people to join him in this struggle and to show that they were not sheep.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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