KARAK / BANNU: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that his party will introduce a new system of local government if voted to power.

Speaking at public gatherings in Karak and Bannu districts on Saturday, the PTI leader said that in the new system the district nazim would be elected directly. He said there would be no development funds for the members of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies so that the MNAs and MPAs could focus on legislation only.

Mr Khan said all political parties were raising a hue and cry that the elections would be rigged. “I say that the elections would not be rigged rather those who rigged the elections would be wiped out in the coming polls,” he said.

Take a look: ECP bars Imran Khan from using inappropriate language during campaigning

He said that during the 2013 elections Nawaz Sharif and former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had fixed the match. “After those elections I demanded that four constituencies be opened to scrutiny to see how the polls were rigged, but no one was ready to listen to us, and when these constituencies were opened after the 126-day sit-in our concerns were justified,” he said.

Says his competition is with the international establishment

Explaining his proposed district government system, the PTI chief said the district nazim, to be elected directly, would take a team of technocrats in his cabinet to put the district on the path of development. He claimed that there was no concept in the United Kingdom and France to elect the district mayor indirectly.

Mr Khan said that Nawaz Sharif was claiming that he had competition with the aliens and “my competition is with the international establishment”.

He said that India was on the back of Mr Sharif and the Indian media had created a perception that the army had done injustice to the former prime minister.

He resolved to strengthen the National Accountability Bureau if his party was voted to power and added that NAB’s capacity would be strengthened to cope with the menace of corruption in a better way.

The PTI chairman said that Nawaz Sharif possessed assets beyond his known sources of income, but he and his daughter were pretending that they were being oppressed to get the sympathies of the masses.

He claimed that PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif was not sincere with his brother Nawaz Sharif and now the former Punjab chief minister was getting scared.

Mr Khan rejected the new social contract theory of Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and claimed that the PPP and PML-N had inked the charter of democracy 10 years ago just to cooperate in stealing the national wealth as they were least bothered about democracy in the country.

He recalled that 10 years ago the dollar was at Rs60 and now it was at Rs130. He claimed that the electricity per unit had been increased from Rs2 to Rs9 and price of flour had gone up from Rs13 to Rs45 per kg.

Mr Khan also criticised chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Maulana Fazlur Rehman and claimed that had made himself the contractor of Islam.

He asked the people to vote for his party in Karak and Bannu, adding that independent candidates were spending huge money to win the election.

PTI candidate from NA-34, Karak, Shahid Khattak was present on the occasion.

Mr Khan is contesting the election from NA-35, Bannu, against former chief minister and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidate Akram Khan Durrani.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2018