Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan vowed to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state as he unveiled party’s manifesto on Monday.

Addressing a ceremony in the federal capital, the cricketer-turned-politician before further drilling down warned whosoever would form the government might face a bumpy road ahead, citing poor economic indicators, rupee depreciation and rising debts to support his stance.

“There are no easy solutions to Pakistan’s problems. We have to make major changes,” the PTI chief said while pledging to create a state in line with the principles that made the foundations of Medina.

Titled ‘Road to Naya Pakistan’, the manifesto explained in detail the PTI’s agenda for the next government.

“The party’s first challenge will be tackling unemployment and creating jobs,” he said adding that the party would construct 5 million houses for the poor and provide 10 million jobs over five years’ term.

Imran said, if elected to power, the PTI would build capacity of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and other anti-graft institutions to pursue all major corruption scandals regardless of political affiliation.

To empower people at the grassroots through establishment of local government was one of the major features introduced the PTI in its policy.?

Moreover, de-politicising the police, which Imran said had become a political tool, was also included in the party manifesto. Khan explained that how his party would initiate poverty alleviation drive across the country’s poorest districts. “We will establish a special mechanism to supplement existing poverty alleviation efforts in the poorest districts across Sindh, Punjab, KP and Balochistan.”

It was said that a special drive would be launched in the poorest districts to improve access to sanitation and clean drinking water as well as provision of Sehat Insaf cards and augment the existing BISP programme in those districts.

The PTI manifesto also claimed to protect the civil, social and religious rights of minorities; their places of worship, property and institutions as laid down in the constitution.

It also pledged to increase women’s access to education, healthcare and economic opportunity necessary for gender parity. A judicial reforms programme to provide quick and quality justice to all citizens was also part of the PTI agenda. “We will work with the judiciary to champion a programme to rapidly dispense the backlog of existing cases, said Imran in his speech.

Furthermore, Imran said that it was yet to be determined whether the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be a game-changer or not.

“Small and medium enterprises (SME) are like the backbone of the country. We will facilitate young entrepreneurs by reducing the cost of doing business,” noted Imran.

Speaking about the opportunities in tourism, the PTI chief said it was one of the biggest untapped industry in Pakistan. “Tourism is also one effective way to increase our foreign revenue and create jobs in remote areas,” said Imran.

“The next biggest challenge is the Federal Bureau of Revenue reforms. We need to make the FBR an institution to collect money to run the country,” he said. “We also plan to empower FBR, for if we are to gather money in Pakistan, we need to fix FBR.”

The PTI chief also said that his party had planned to replicate hydropower projects installed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Referring to the agriculture sector, Imran said the PTI would devise policies to facilitate farmers. “We will replace livestock with more effective and latest methods of farming.”

The PTI chief claimed that the human development index in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was the highest among other provinces. “Once we eliminate corruption we will be able to spend more money on human development.” .

Published in Daily Times, July 10^th 2018.