While giving a fiery victory speech at the Chairman Secretariat Banigala in Islamabad on Thursday after general elections 2018, the Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan pledged to the nation that he will introduce a system that is for the masses and will end the elitist culture. He commended the people of Balochistan who voted on Election Day, despite a suicide attack and under worst threats. He paid homage to PTI and ANP’s candidates Ikram Ullah Gandapur and Haroun Bilour and lauded the nation for their resilience against terrorism.
“I came into politics twenty two years ago because I believe that the potential of our country was not being realized. The Pakistan that I saw growing up deteriorated in front of my very eyes”, said Chairman PTI. He said that politics could not have given him anything. “All I want is to make Pakistan the country that my leader Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had dreamed of”, he said. “I want to share the kind of Pakistan I envision ─ the type of state that was established in Madina, where widows and the poor were taken care of,” he explained. “Today our state is in shambles. I pledge that all our policies will aim to help the less fortunate prosper,” he said.
“Nations are not recognized by how their elite live; rather it is recognized by how it treats and lifts it’s poor”, marked Chairman PTI.
“We are facing governance and economic challenges. Our economy has never been so abysmal. It’s because institutions have not been doing their jobs,” he explained. “People are not investing in Pakistan. Another problem is unemployment; our youth does not have jobs. We will introduce a system that has never been implemented before, a kind of governance system that has not been seen before in this country,” he promised.
“Farmers are not paid for their hard work, 25 million children are out of school, our women continue to die in childbirth because we can’t give them basic healthcare and we can’t give the people clean drinking water. A country is not recognized by the lifestyle of the rich, but by the lifestyle of the poor. No country that has an island of rich people and a sea of poor people can prosper,” he said.
He said that it is surprising that a country that has the highest number of people giving charity, but the lowest amount of tax revenue.
“We will run this country like it has never been run before”, he vowed. “Our institutions will be stronger, everyone will be held accountable. First I will be subjected to accountability, then my ministers and so on. Today we are behind other countries because there is a separate system for those in power and a separate one for ordinary citizens,” he said. He said that we want to make such institutions that will fix the governance system of our country. “We will improve tax culture. People will pay taxes because they will see that their taxes are being spent on them. We will help farmers, the business community and help the youth to find jobs and develop their skills. Our money will be spent on human development,” he added.
Speaking about overseas Pakistan he said that our biggest asset is our overseas Pakistani and we want to make an environment where they feel they will be able to invest here.
The Chairman PTI said that he would not live in Prime Minister House. “Our government will decide what to do with Prime Minister House,” he said. “That house along with governor houses will be converted into educational institutions or something of the sort,” he said.
On the upcoming foreign policy, Imran Khan said Pakistan is facing major challenges on the global level and said that the government will establish good relations with the neighbors. We will strengthen our relations with China, they have given us a chance by investing in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and we also want to learn how to improve people’s lives, drag them out of poverty. Will also learn how to deal with corruption,” he said.
Speaking about Afghanistan he said that this country has suffered most in the ‘war on terror’, and before that in the Afghan jihad. “Peace in Afghanistan means peace in Pakistan,” he said, adding that he envisions open borders with Afghanistan reminiscent to those within the European Union.
He said he wished relations with the United States to be mutually beneficial, not one sided. Additionally, he said he and his party wanted stronger ties with Iran. “Saudi Arabia has stood by us in our toughest times. We would like to be a reconciliatory state and help them resolve their inner tensions,” he said.
Commenting on consistent vile reporting during election by the Indian Media, Imran Khan deferred the portrayal of his negative image stating that he is a proponent of peace between the two states and offered to resolves all disputes including Kashmir through negotiations.
“We want to improve our relations with India, if their leadership also wants it. This blame game that whatever goes wrong in Pakistan is because of India and vice versa brings us back to square one,” he said.
