Daily Times

KARACHI: The only way to solve the problems facing Pakistan is early election, said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday.

“The sooner the government goes towards early polls, the better it will be,” said Imran while addressing a press conference in the port city on Wednesday.

The PTI chief said that current circumstances in the country dictate that early elections should be held in order to bring stability as the incumbent government had failed to deliver.

Khan elaborated on four points, including the state of the economy, FATA’s merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Model Town inquiry report, which he said formed the basis for his call for early election.

Talking about Model Town inquiry report, he said, “Game is over now…the report clearly implicates Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif.”

Referring to the recent devaluation of rupee, Imran said the incumbent government could not tackle the current economic crisis.

“The economy will get worse if this government continues.” He said that increase in debt burden had resulted in rupee depreciation.

Commenting on KP-FATA merger, he said, “FATA should be merged with KP as soon as possible. He warned that if the issue of the merger was prolonged then terrorism might return to haunt the province.

Meanwhile, the PIT chief also met business community at the Korangi Association of Trade and Industries (KATI) where traders conveyed their grieveance to the PTI chairman.

Former KATI president Rashid Ahmed Siddiqui said that elected PTI’s Member National Assembly from Karachi Dr Arif Alvi was never seen by industrialists in the last five years. “We voted for the PTI but our issues are never resolved.

Imran Khan admitted that he wasn’t able to give enough time to Karachi. He said that the issues of Karachi could only be resolved through a directly-elected mayor.

To a question about the PTI rally in Karachi, Imran said they the PTI wanted to hold a rally on December 25 in the city to show that theirs is the biggest party in the metropolis.

Moments before the departure, the PTI chief held a brief meeting with Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Sirajul Haq at Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) in Islamabad.

The duo discussed the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) reforms bill, sources said.

On Saturday, Khan had threatened the government to hit the roads if Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) was not merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) before the 2018 election.

Published in Daily Times, December 14^th 2017.