KARACHI: Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on Tuesday said he had evolved a ‘special in swing ball’ that would ‘blow off the middle stump’ of former president Asif Ali Zardari.
Addressing a press conference in the mega city of Karachi, Khan said that the present government had raised the national debt to an unprecedented level, holding the economic future of the country at stake.
Blaming former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his finance minister Ishaq Dar for the current economic state of affairs, Khan did not spare Zardari for his alleged corrupt politics that, Khan claimed, had ruined the Sindh province, where his party ruled.
“I have prepared a special in-swing and sooner I could see his middle stump blown,” Khan said.
Referring to the unjust distribution of wealth among the provinces, the PTI chief said that the revenue of the Sindh province should be spent for the welfare of the people of the province.
He also criticised Zardari for becoming a mafia and said the sugarcane growers were not getting proper price for their crops because of the Zardari-led mafia.
Khan, who holds the government in norther province of Khyber Pakhtunkhaw and significant presence in the central Punjab province, said that he was now focusing on Sindh province and striving to bring new leadership in the province.
However, he said that the people were scared of the present political mafia. He said that earlier the people were afraid of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and now in the interior of Sindh, the Zardar fear factor prevailed.
“They exploit and use the police as well as the gundas for keep their hegemonic control over politics,” he said.
Khan said that he was trying to woo such politicians into his party who could face the wrath of the political mafia in Sindh and who could firmly stand against them.
He also criticised the flawed anti graft system of the government, saying that the government, instead of punishing the looters, protect them. He said that the former chief of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was especially appointed to protect the corrupts.
Khan, however, expressed his satisfaction over the appointment of the new chief of the NAB and said that the whole nation was expecting him take steps against corruption.
He also welcomed the NAB move to open up a metro bus service case in Multan that would, he believed, expose Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif’s involvement in the project.
To a question, Khan said that Aisha Gula Lai herself had offered to resign from the membership of PTI after she accused him of sexual harassment a couple of months back.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday turned down a reference of Khan regarding disqualification of Gula Lai following her separating from the party amid the sexual harassment controversy.
