Daily Times

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday hoped that his party would manage to bag a heavy mandate in the next general elections, and said there will be no need for “crutches”, a private TV channel reported.

He made these remarks during a meeting with a delegation of retired additional and sessions court judges at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.

The delegation expressed solidarity with Imran on behalf of 297 members.

“We want to make efforts for the betterment of the people on a large scale and hope to form a government in the future with a heavy mandate,” Imran was quoted as saying during the meeting. Imran said that PTI is never afraid of negotiations or talks, but discussion will take place on election matters only.

“It is important for us to consider how we can protect the ordinary citizens. We will move forward with the agenda of reforms in the country and establish the rule of law for the betterment of society, which has become essential,” he said.

The remarks come as PTI presses for early elections in the country which, according to the party, were essential for the economic revival of Pakistan. On Saturday, the deposed premier presented his party’s roadmap for economic prosperity at a public rally at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan. He emphasised that the country needs difficult decisions to be made to revamp governance and increase exports. Khan pointed out that Pakistan doesn’t collect sufficient taxes, resulting in an outflow of dollars that exceeds the inflow. He said that if exports increase, the inflow of dollars would also increase. He also urged the need for a complete revamp of governance to achieve economic prosperity. The deposed premier stated that a “surgery” was needed in Pakistan to put the house in order, and if that were done, overseas Pakistanis would bring their dollars to the country. He suggested incentivising overseas Pakistanis to invest and proposed VIP status for exporters. The PTI chief highlighted the IT and tourism sectors’ growth during his party’s tenure and emphasised increasing productivity in the agriculture sector. He also proposed restructuring all government corporations, including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).