SWABI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said on Saturday that some elements in the country wanted postponement of general elections, but all such conspiracies would be foiled and the polls would be held on July 25.

Addressing a public meeting here in Gohati Cricket Ground, he said that the recent suicide attacks had shaken him.

However, he made it clear that they were not afraid of terrorists and none of the public meetings of PTI till July 23 would be postponed.

He said that both internal and external factors were responsible for the recent suicide attacks. He said that some elements didn’t want a prosperous Pakistan and the election, while the external powers wanted to harm and destabilise the country.

The PTI chief said that after hearing about the attack on Siraj Raisani he wanted to postpone his public meetings in Swabi, Mardan and Taxila, but then he thought about the younger generation who were the future of the country. He said that it was need of hour to put the youth on the right track so as to rid the country of the crises.

Referring to conviction of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he said that about 22 years ago he had said that the most serious threat to the country was the menace of corruption, which the people of the country had fully understood now.

He said that Nawaz Sharif had amassed Rs300 billion through corrupt practices. He asked the people to reject corrupt politicians in the coming elections. He said that these leaders had looted the public and then shifted the money abroad through illegal channels.

He said that PTI was against such malpractices and wanted the leadership to focus on economic development and people’s welfare instead of accumulating wealth. He said that the dream of prosperous country could not be fulfilled unless the nation rose against corrupt leaders.

Imran Khan said that every government in the past two decades had left two things; an empty exchequer and Maulana Fazlur Rehman who remained part of every government.

“Due to wrong priorities the country’s debt climbed to a record level and the dollar had devoured our currency,” he said.

The PTI chief said that in the last one decade the price of electricity had surged by 410 per cent and petrol and diesel by 380 per cent, while the price of wheat flour jumped from Rs13 per kg to Rs45 per kg, and the whole burden was shifted to the poor masses. He said that all this happened due to corruption of the rulers during the last 10 years.

Former provincial minister Shahram Khan Tarakai, Asad Qaiser and other contesting candidates of PTI also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2018