KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that the people of the country, including Sindh, are fed up with the “corruption” of both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari and they will be voted out of politics in the next general election.

Speaking at a press conference at the residence of party leader Dr Arif Alavi on Monday, he said corruption was derailing the country’s system because every year billions of rupees were being sent abroad.

He said the country could only progress and prosper when corrupt elements would be sent behind bars and their plundered money was brought back from abroad.

The PTI chief had arrived in the city on Sunday in connection with the election campaign of his party’s candidate in the July 9 by-election on a provincial assembly seat (PS-114) in Karachi’s Mehmoodabad area.

He said that in the coming general election not only the Sharif family but PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari would also be defeated in Sindh.

He said the people were fed up with a “corrupt gang”, allegedly being patronised by the former president, because this gang had taken over all resources of Sindh.

Responding to a question, Mr Khan said that Zardari and Nawaz Sharif could not eliminate corruption.

He said only those countries could progress where institutions were running on principles.

In reply to another question, the PTI chief said that in the Panama Papers case the Sharif family had failed to give a money trail and their corruption was exposed to everyone that was why the rulers were making hue and cry. “The prince of Sharif family lives in a flat, valued at Rs6,500 million,” he said, referring to the London apartments owned by Nawaz Sharif’s sons.

Answering another question, Mr Khan said on papers Rs90 billion had been spent on development projects in Larkana alone, but whole Sindh looked like Moenjodaro and youths in the province were running from pillar to post to seek employment.

He congratulated the Pakistani cricket team, including Captain Sarfraz Ahmed, for their historic victory against India in the ICC Champions Trophy tournament.

He said Pakistan was full of talent and the only matter was to provide opportunities to the youths so that they could prove their worth.

Earlier, he also greeted cricketer Fakhr Zaman and said Pakistanis were a great nation of the world and no one could match them the day the nation was united.

‘Referendum against rulers’

On Sunday night, Mr Khan also addressed an election rally in Azam Basti in support of his party candidate Najeeb Haroon.

He appealed to the people of the PS-114 constituency to turn the July 9 by-election into a referendum against “the corrupt, incompetent and extortionist rulers”.

He said it was the best opportunity to get rid of the corrupt who despite remaining in power for six times had failed to arrange clean drinking water to the people.

He said his party had fielded an honest and ideological political worker in the byelection and the people ought to come out from their homes on July 9 to exercise their right of vote in favour of bat, the election symbol of the PTI, and get Mr Haroon elected to defeat thieves and the corrupt.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2017