\u2018Won\u2019t need crutches\u2019
\nWe want to make efforts for the betterment of the people on a large scale, says ex-PM
\n Lahore
\nFormer 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 \u201ccrutches\u201d.
\nHe made these remarks during a meeting with a delegation of retired additional and sessions court judges at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Express News reported.
\nThe delegation expressed solidarity with Imran on behalf of 297 members.
\n\u201cWe 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,\u201d Imran was quoted as saying during the meeting.
\nImran said that PTI is never afraid of negotiations or talks, but discussion will take place on election matters only.
\n\u201cIt 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,\u201d he said.
\nThe remarks come as PTI presses for early elections in the country which, according to the party, were essential for the economic revival of Pakistan.
\nOn Saturday, the deposed premier presented his party\u2019s roadmap for economic prosperity at a public rally at Lahore\u2019s Minar-e-Pakistan.
\nHe emphasised that the country needs difficult decisions to be made to revamp governance and increase exports. Khan pointed out that Pakistan doesn\u2019t collect sufficient taxes, resulting in an outflow of dollars that exceeds the inflow.
\nHe 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.
\nThe deposed premier stated that a \u201csurgery\u201d 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.
\nThe PTI chief highlighted the IT and tourism sectors\u2019 growth during his party\u2019s tenure and emphasised increasing productivity in the agriculture sector. He also proposed restructuring all government corporations, including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
\nAccording to Khan, only 2.5 million Pakistanis out of 220 million people pay taxes. He stressed the need to increase the tax base to achieve progress, and said PTI collected record taxes during its tenure. Khan also said that the PTI government introduced health cards, which the current government has stopped, but his party would revive the initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Won\u2019t need crutches\u2019 We want to make efforts for the betterment of the people on a large scale, says ex-PM Lahore 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-322622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n