Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday reiterated his government’s resolve not to forgive the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) unless they pay back the looted public money.
“I challenge you today. Do whatever you want to do, get united or anything else. We will not leave you. This nation will not pardon you. You have only one way out – pay back public money, then we will leave you,” the prime minister remarked while addressing a public gathering here in the industrial city of Sindh province.
Referring to the train march by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, the prime minister said the PTI had staged sit-in to demand fair election, not to conceal its corruption. He said the PPP had to offer Rs 2,000 per head to the people to join their train march because it was not meant for people’s benefit but to cover their own corruption. He said whenever the government launches accountability, the opposition starts propaganda of threat to democracy. “It is not democracy but corruption under threat,” he added.
Imran Khan said in the past, both Sharif and Zardari would label each other as corrupt but now they are getting united against the government. He told the gathering that during the last 10 years, Sindh government got Rs 234 billion as gas royalty but the living condition of the people of Ghotkim which produces 70 percent of gas, is yet to change. The royalty should be first spent on the areas producing natural resources, he added.
The prime minister said the money supposed to be spent on people went to fake accounts. He said due to corruption, country’s debt has swelled from Rs 6,000 billion to Rs 30,000 billion within 10 years.
Lauding the leadership of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister said during his 17 years of rule, he had surged the per capita income of Malaysia from around $1500 to $9,000. But the corrupt leadership which replaced him put the country again under debt, he said. Similarly, he said, Pakistan once had been the fastest growing nation in Asia and even South Korea had adopted Pakistan’s development model but now it (Pakistan) is under record burden of debt. The country has to pay Rs 6 billion a day as mark-up against the loans, he said.
He said being home to Karachi, the country’s financial capital, most gas reserves and fertile land, Sindh should have been the most developed province. Contrarily, the interior Sindh is the poorest area in Pakistan, just due to corruption.
The prime minister said he has always seen Sindh in deteriorating condition and it is a well-known fact that where the province’s budget has gone.
He said his government has launched a comprehensive poverty alleviation program benefiting from Chinese experiences. “Insaf Sehat Card providing health insurance cover of Rs 720,000 per family are being distributed. Programs for women empowerment, interest-free loans and youth employment are also coming up,” he added.
In a meeting with the parliamentarians and senior leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh chapter and coalition parties at the residence of MPA Ali Gohar Mahar during his visit to Ghotki, the prime minister said in the past, the national institutions were marred just for the sake of personal gains and public money was transferred to personal accounts. He said it is not the dearth of resources but the corruption which has dragged the people of Sindh into extreme poverty.
During the meeting, the prime minister discussed the overall situation of Sindh province, coalition matters and steps taken by the federal government for welfare of people in Sindh. He told the meeting that it is a joint decision of the PTI and coalition partners to expose the corruption and they have to accomplish this agenda. He also urged the coalition parties to help fulfill PTI’s manifesto collectively.
