LAHORE: Commenting on ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s claim that he represented an ideology and that the ideology would bring about a revolution in the country, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan retorted that Mr Sharif’s ideology was nothing but corruption.

While addressing a public gathering in Hafizabad on Friday, Mr Khan lashed out at the chiefs of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), calling their tenures in power an “unfortunate affair” for the country.

He claimed that Mr Sharif had laundered and stolen Rs300 billion of the people’s money, and called the former prime minister a thief, which was why he could not stop anyone from being involved in corruption. He accused Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif of looting the nation’s wealth and stashing it abroad. “When a prime minister becomes corrupt, he corrupts the whole system in the country,” he regretted.

Minister chides PTI chief for using abusive language for politicians

The foreign minister had a job in Dubai from where he received a monthly salary of Rs1.6m, claimed the PTI chief, adding: “The PTI will reveal more facts about Khawaja Asif next week.”

Because the nation’s wealth was consistently sent abroad, the people ended up facing joblessness and dealing with price hikes, he said, adding that the sitting prime minister did not even have it in him to remove Mr Dar from the federal cabinet.

In Western countries, if a ruler was found placing their own interests over the interests of the people, while in power, they would go to jail, he said, lamenting that the tradition was turned over in Pakistan where such people stayed in power. He urged the youth of the country to get rid of corrupt rulers through the power of their votes and change their destiny. He said the taxes collected from the masses must be spent on their welfare.

Regretting that nearly Rs4 trillion was circulating abroad because of rampant corruption, the PTI chief stressed that the money must be spent on the welfare of the people of Pakistan. He said it was unfortunate that Pakistan’s rulers had raised taxes to pay off the country’s debt and took more loans to run the country’s affairs.

Mr Khan said that after coming to power, the PTI would upgrade and strengthen state-run schools and hospitals and would stand by the weak. He said any powerful person found to be corrupt or caught looting the national wealth would be dealt with an iron hand. The PTI chief regretted discrimination based on class, and shared that around 150,000 children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had dropped out of private schools and shifted to public schools because the PTI-led government in the province had improved the quality of education there.

Separately, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, while commenting on Mr Khan’s address in Hafizabad, said that it was clear that the PTI chief was not acquainted with the basics of democracy, and thrived on telling lies and spreading propaganda.

He chided the PTI chief for using abusive language against politicians, and said Mr Khan would stoop as low as forging an alliance with “Satan” if that would make him prime minister.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2017