Screengrab of PTI chief Imran Khan addressing supporters from inside a bulletproof box perched atop a container
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday night summarized his party’s plans to revive the national economy, claiming the incumbent government had no plan to alleviate the prevailing economic crunch.
Addressing a rally of thousands at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore, he said the country’s governance system needed corrective “surgery,” which required ensuring the rule of law. “To reduce the current account deficit, we have to encourage our overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country,” he said, adding that expatriates should be incentivized to invest in the country. He also stressed on increasing exports, proposing “VIP” status for exporters to reduce the country’s trade deficit. He reiterated claims that the net worth of 18,000 Pakistani-Americans in the U.S. was $200 billion, while the net worth of the top 10 Pakistani-American businessmen was $25 billion. “And we are bowing before the IMF to get a $6 billion deal,” he lamented.
Claiming that the I.T. and tourism sectors had prospered during his tenure as prime minister, he said focus was also needed on increasing productivity in the agriculture sector. He said loss-making government corporations, such as the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), needed to be restructured or privatized to reduce their impact on the treasury.
Noting that Pakistan doesn’t collect sufficient taxes, Khan said this resulted in an outflow of dollars that exceeded their inflow. If exports increased, he said, the inflow of dollars would increase. Of 220 million Pakistanis, claimed the PTI chief, only 2.5 million pay taxes. This base, he said, needs to be increased for the country to progress. He also vowed to revive the health insurance initiative of his government if he returned to power.
To facilitate businesses, he said, loans should be given to the youth and a mortgage scheme revived. He claimed the PTI’s focus would be on reducing poverty by providing the impoverished with rations through a targeted program.
Addressing his supporters from bulletproof box perched atop a shipping container, Khan proposed anti-money laundering initiatives to boost investment and also outlined steps to promote agriculture, tourism and small- and medium-sized industries. Emphasizing that the main problems with Pakistan’s economy were foreign debt, current account deficit, reduced exports, pressure on the rupee and tax evasion, he said this needed to be corrected to alleviate prevailing concerns.
At the outset, the PTI chief claimed the party’s rally would send a “message” to those in power that his supporters could not be deterred by the government blocking routes with containers. Claiming that over 2,000 PTI workers had been arrested ahead of the rally, he said the “level playing field” demanded by his political rivals could not be achieved by tying his hands while providing facilities to others. “I have completed a century of cases, I might even cross 150. I have 40 terrorism cases registered against my name. Poor spend their entire life fighting false cases in this country,” he claimed even though police recently told the Lahore High Court he was implicated in less than 40 cases nationwide.
Maintaining that “real freedom” could only be achieved if rule of law prevails in the country, he reiterated criticism of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif seeking financial support from “friendly” countries, claiming he was failing. “[Former Army chief] Bajwa says he used to scold him [P.M. Sharif] for 40 minutes and he used to listen without uttering a word,” he said, adding that, “this is what happens when you come to power through backdoor.” Bajwa has rejected the veracity of the interview that Khan referred to, which included him describing the PTI chief as “the biggest liar” he has ever met.
During his speech, Khan reiterated claims of cancelling earlier rallies at Minar-e-Pakistan to “avoid bloodshed” and alleged once that PTI supporter Zille Shah, alias Ali Bilal, had been “tortured” before his death. “Who murdered him? They should be punished as per law even though my heart calls for other means,” he said of the case in which police maintain Shah died in a car accident.
The former prime minister also reiterated claims of police trying to arrest him while he had protective bail—a claim that has repeatedly been denied by police—adding that the public was aware that he was not a “terrorist.” Slamming the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for delaying polls in Punjab, he alleged that the establishment had a “one point agenda” of ensuring that he would not win the next elections.
The PTI rally, staged after several previous attempts were abruptly cancelled, had been warned of a potential terror threat by the Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department. In a notification, it warned that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Mukarram Khurasani had planned a terrorist attack on the rally, adding that the aim was to create chaos in the country. In this regard, the authorities were urged to increase security measures ahead of the rally to ensure there was no loss to life or property.