LAHORE/HAFIZABAD - PTI Chairman Imran Khan has appealed to the extremist elements not to sabotage the electioneering process and wait instead, as the ‘change is around’.
“Let the political parties run their campaigns during the run-up to the elections,” he urged on Sunday, after chairing the meeting of party candidates for Lahore at PTI’s city chapter office. “An environment conducive to a level-playing field was vital to the democratic process,” said Imran, adding dialogue was the only mode to resolve the burning issues and military operations never yielded lasting solutions to any problem.
The PTI chairman not only reiterated that his party would not forge any pre-poll alliance with PPP, PML-N or any other former ruling party but also declared they would not accept them as allies even after the elections. Imran calls these parties part of the problem and maintains that they can never become part of the solution.
Declaring youth as the main support base of the party, he claimed that PTI with their support and the help of huge number of ‘silent voters’ would turn the tables on the traditional political parties. These parties are corrupt to the core and people are fed up with them; they have now pinned all their hope with the PTI, which won’t disappoint them.
To a question about allegation of his receiving money from the Jews and being their stooge, Imran said he would leave politics if Fazl proved that he has any ties with the Jewish lobby. “I will leave politics if Maulana Fazlur Rehman establishes his allegation that I receive funds from Jewish lobby. JUI-F chief is a hypocrite; he should establish what he has alleged.”
Later, addressing a public meeting in Hafizabad Stadium, Imran Khan reiterated that he would bring about radical changes to make the country corruption-free, build a new Pakistan and eliminate loadshedding within three to three-and-half years.
He said Pakistan was facing the biggest problem of lack of justice and lawlessness. He held that only those societies in the world could progress in which justice and rule of law prevailed. Had there been rule of law in the country, the two big leaders of Pakistan and politicians of Hafizabad would have been behind bars.
Imran said a new foreign policy would be made to rid the country of the slavery of the US. He strongly condemned drone attacks which were killing innocent Muslims and said PTI would not allow anyone to use their land or airspace and violate the country’s sovereignty.
He said the climatic conditions of Pakistan and India were the same, but farmers of the neighbouring country were getting the biggest yield of their agriculture products because their government provided fertilizers, electricity, pesticides and other agriculture inputs to them at subsidised rates. He regretted that in Pakistan substandard fertilizers and seeds were being supplied to the farmers due to which they could not increase their products.
He appealed to the youth, particularly females, present at the public meeting to visit every house on May 11 and bring maximum voters out to the polling stations so that PTI could build a new Pakistan.
Contrary to expectations, the local leadership of PTI and its candidates failed to ensure participation of a large number of people. District Hafizabad PTI Vice President Ch Muhamamd Arshad Tarar gifted a buffalo to Imran Khan.
In Mandi Bahauddin, Imran said his party, if voted to power, would completely change Pakistan according to the dreams of the nation. He said corrupt leaders could not end corruption and only PTI would eradicate corruption and repair the damages the country had faced due to the past corrupt governments.
Referring to his rivals, he said they remained five times in power, but did nothing except corrupting the system. Now they were again struggling to capture power for their ulterior motives, but this time people were determined to discard those who had already damaged the country and ruined its institutions, he said.
In Sargodha, Imran Khan said that Asif Ali Zardari committed a suicide attack on PPP, destroying it completely, while Sharif brothers ruined the national exchequer in Punjab through ill-planned and failed projects.
He expressed these views while addressing a public gathering in Sargodha. He said Sharif brothers had wasted billions of rupees on ‘Jangla Bus Project’ instead of generating power to end loadshedding. He said when the people of Punjab were facing a very hot season due to loadshedding, the then chief minister Shahbaz Sharif had set a tent office with a hand fan at Minar-e-Pakistan.
Khan said there were only two turns in cricket, but Sharif brothers had taken five turns in politics and wanted to take sixth turn. He said Sharif Bothers flew to Saudi Arabia after striking a deal with Pervez Musharraf, but told a lie that no deal had been made. He said he would prefer to die, but would not lie to the nation. He asked Sharif Brothers where had been the money received from the nation in the name of “Qarz utaro, mulk sanwaro.” Imran said he would play the final match against the corrupt team for which he had been preparing for 17 years.