MIANWALI: Launching countrywide election campaign from his home constituency of NA-95 Mianwali, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Sunday made it overtly clear to party members that tickets for contesting general elections 2018 were awarded purely on merit.
Khan was addressing public gathering here in Mianwali as PTI kicked off election drive to amass public support.
Imran Khan apologised from the party workers who could not be granted party tickets for General Elections 2018.
Excusing from his party workers, Imran said he had received 4,500 applications for tickets and it was impossible to award tickets to all of them as only 500 candidates were to be granted tickets to the maximum.
“Tickets were solely issued on merit. I did not award tickets to siblings. Almost 4500 people applied for PTI’s ticket. I seek forgiveness from those who have been deprived of tickets,” Khan told attendants.
“PML-N distributed tickets among the Sharif family and the PPP among the Zardari family, but it was only the PTI that awarded tickets purely on merit after a detailed survey,” he said. “I even did not award tickets to my relatives,” Imran claimed.
Unveiling his election manifesto, Khan vowed to strengthen institutions including anti-graft watchdog NAB and FIA.
Citing plummeting economic indicators, Khan apprised attendants that dollar had surged to Rs125 whereas country’s debt burden had augmented to Rs27000 billion.
“The nation is gradually drowning in debt which has crossed Rs27 trillion in five years while the children of the Sharif family are becoming billionaires,” said Imran.
Sensing victory in much-anticipated general polls 2018, Khan stated that country’s future was about to change in four weeks.
Giving reason for launching election campaign from Mianwali, he said, “I am launching my election campaign from Mianwali for this city supported me when nobody else did.”
“If the residents of Mianwali would not have supported me in 2002, I might not have been doing politics today. By God’s grace, through the efforts of youth of Mianwali, the PTI has become the biggest party of Pakistan today. Now, I am launching the election campaign from Mianwali which will subsequently lead to establishment of PTI’s government,” he said.
He berated “the bad governance” in the PML-N government asking in what institution did they bring reformations.
The PTI chief took a dig at the PML-N leaders for millions and billions rupees of alleged money embezzlement. He claimed that former chief minister Punjab and PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif had 56 companies and each of them was marred with misappropriation of public funds.
“Where is the electricity Shahbaz Sharif generated? The development and projects were only showed in advertisements,” he said, promising to bring an economic revolution in the country after coming into power.
He vowed to collect 8,000 billion rupee tax from the country after getting into power. He said Pakistan was the fifth biggest country in terms of giving charity. “Governor houses and rest houses will be spared for people,” he said.
Imran also vowed to strengthen FIA and NAB and reform police, education and health sector. “We will give historical party manifesto for elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday has slammed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif after British newspaper published a report regarding his assets in London.
Imran Khan shared a post of Daily Mail on Twitter with following caption, “More on how the Pakistani nation’s wealth was looted through money laundering by corrupt rulers and their families.”
The British media, Daily Mail, has revealed that the total value of the properties of Nawaz Sharif and his family is estimated at £32 million with London’s swankiest addresses.
According to the revelations, Avenfield House is where super-rich Nawaz Sharif, has lived when in London, since 1993. He shares this property with his two sons Hassan and Hussain, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Captain (Retd) Safdar.
These apartments were constructed after four luxury flats were knocked together. It is just the kind of property that Russian oligarchs possesses in recent years.
The report also claimed that Nawaz and his family used dirty money to purchase at least 21 UK properties on top of the Avenfield flats.
“The family has made huge profits from other sites which have not figured in court – such as the swankiest address of all, at One Hyde Park Place, which Nawaz Sharif’s son Hassan sold for £43 million. The properties are registered via a bewildering network of companies, trusts and bank accounts,” the newspaper exposed. – NNI