PTI going to election with stronger vote bank: Imran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Tuesday claimed that his party was going into the general election 2018 with full confidence of having a stronger vote bank.

The PTI chief, in an interview with PTV News said the PTI of year 2011 had today become a real political power as people had started joining it.

“Over the years we have created our vote bank along with the experience of contesting the general election 2013,” he added.

Imran said the PTI had bagged millions of votes in the last general election becoming the second biggest political party in the country. He, however, admitted that he had then given tickets to few inexperienced candidates, who did not know the election tactics.

The PTI chief said Pakistan had witnessed the politics of inheritance for decades. The people were left with no choice, but to vote for those who had been in power for years but did not deliver, he added.

He was hopeful that the PTI would be able to get the people out of their homes, especially youth for a better turnout on the polling day. Unlike the past when politics was done on ethnic basis or 'Bradariism,' today the youth were more educated and knew their democratic rights, he added.

He said that his struggle spanned over 22 years but he never lost confidence in the people of Pakistan. The country had seen a glory in its early days and now was the time for its re-emergence.

Talking about the general election 2013, he reiterated his allegation of an engineered election through returning officers and hoped that the situation would be different now.

He said the PTI government's performance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be cited as an example for the people during the upcoming election. “We have established 15 new hospitals and renovated the old ones,” he added.

Criticizing the previous Punjab government, he claimed that projects like Metro Bus and Orange Line Train had been costing Rs 20 to 25 billion that could have been used for the welfare of masses.

He reaffirmed that the PTI would not go into alliance with any corrupt political party as it would be like comprising the party's ideology.

Imran Khan said if his party was given an opportunity by the people it would collect Rs 8,000 billion in the form of taxes from the public. “Making the institutions strong is our main goal as only then a composite machinery of the government can be run,” he added.

He said once the public’s trust in government was restored, the PTI would also convince the overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country.

He said the Panama Papers case had actually became an example of corruption as it created awareness among the public.

Imran reaffirmed that the PTI’s manifesto was aimed at making Pakistan a welfare state in accordance with the Islamic teachings where every citizen had equal rights and basic facilities.