KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said the no-confidence move against him would turn out to be the ‘political demise’ of the Opposition.
The prime minister was addressing a gathering of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf workers at Governor House during his day-long visit to the metropolitan. He told party activists that he will be visiting them next time during a tour of Sindh.
The prime minister said by submitting the no-confidence motion, the Opposition had taken the step, which he had been longing for. “I have been waiting for this moment. Now they have been trapped as their no-confidence motion is going to rebound on them,” he said.
He warned the Opposition that he would not spare the ‘thieves’ who had plundered the national wealth and said that he had been waging war against corruption for the last 25 years.
PM Imran Khan said his first ‘target’ would be the Pakistan People’s Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari for his involvement in corruption and money laundering. He said Zardari was focused on buying loyalties of the members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, adding that a PTI MNA told him that he was offered Rs200 million.
Imran Khan also lashed out at Pakistan Muslim League-N President Shahbaz Sharif and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s chief Fazal-ur-Rehman for joining Zardari in a bid to save one another.
He accused Zardari and Sharif of coming up with different excuses on the occasions of hearings of court and the National Accountability Bureau. “People of Sindh want to get rid of Zardari and I wanted to tell them that their time to liberate themselves from the clutches of Zardari has come,” he said.
He said Shahbaz Sharif had laundered billions of rupees to his son and son-in-law abroad, while Fazal-ur-Rehman possessed wealth worth billions even without owning any business. “I will further reduce electricity prices by retrieving public money from them,” he said, adding that in near future, all these corrupt would end up in jail.
The prime minister said the gang of dacoits had got united against him, adding that the corrupt were not making the move to save the country, but themselves. As the country progressed in the right direction, he said, the situation was greatly irking the thieves and dacoits. He mentioned that due to the effective policies of the government, the country witnessed record exports, tax revenue, and foreign exchange.
Imran Khan said Pakistan was in favour of maintaining friendly relations with all countries, but not at the cost of its own integrity. He mentioned that he had not given any statement against the European Union, but reminded it that Pakistan was its ally in the war against terrorism which cost the country over 80,000 casualties.
The prime minister said the war on terror resulted in the internal displacement of 3.5 million people in the country’s tribal areas, regretting that the sacrifices were not acknowledged by the world. “Therefore, we will support peace but will not side with any country in a war,” he said.
On the other hand, he pointed out that Zardari and Nawaz Sharif during the 10 years of their rule did not speak against over 400 drone strikes on the country. “They did not utter a word against the drone attacks because they worship these countries as their wealth is secure and safe there,” he said. “They will never stand with the national interest”.
