LAHORE: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday expressed his hope that the nation will give his party a landslide victory in the next general elections, saying there will be no need for “crutches”.
“We have been struggling for and want to make efforts for betterment of the people on a large scale, which is only possible with the formation of a government in the future with a heavy mandate,” former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said during a meeting with a delegation of retired additional and sessions court judges at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
On the occasion, the delegation members expressed solidarity with Imran on behalf of 297 members.
Talking to the retired judge, Imran said that PTI is never afraid of negotiations or talks, but discussion will take place on election matters only.
“It is important for us to consider how we can protect the ordinary citizens. We will move forward with the agenda of reforms in the country and establish the rule of law for the betterment of society, which has become essential,” he said.
The remarks come as PTI presses for early elections in the country which, according to the party, were essential for the economic revival of Pakistan.
On Saturday, the deposed premier presented his party’s roadmap for economic prosperity at a public rally at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan.
He emphasised that the country needs difficult decisions to be made to revamp governance and increase exports. Khan pointed out that Pakistan doesn’t collect sufficient taxes, resulting in an outflow of dollars that exceeds the inflow.
He said that if exports increase, the inflow of dollars would also increase. He also urged the need for a complete revamp of governance to achieve economic prosperity.
The deposed premier stated that a “surgery” was needed in Pakistan to put the house in order, and if that were done, overseas Pakistanis would bring their dollars to the country. He suggested incentivising overseas Pakistanis to invest and proposed VIP status for exporters.
The PTI chief highlighted the IT and tourism sectors’ growth during his party’s tenure and emphasised increasing productivity in the agriculture sector. He also proposed restructuring all government corporations, including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
According to Khan, only 2.5 million Pakistanis out of 220 million people pay taxes. He stressed the need to increase the tax base to achieve progress, and said PTI collected record taxes during its tenure. Khan also said that the PTI government introduced health cards, which the current government has stopped, but his party would revive the initiative.
