News Analysis |
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan lambasted the ousted ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and stated, “Nawaz’s ideology is corruption”. He said this while addressing the charged gathering at the Municipal stadium in Hafizabad-Punjab on Friday. Imran ridiculed Nawaz Sharif for saying that he [Nawaz] is an ideology and remarked that his ideology is nothing but corruption.
The PTI chairman has continued the series of Jalsas across Pakistan. His resolve remains unwavering to unearth and publicise the corruption of the ruling elite and in particular of Nawaz. Imran contemptuously reminded Nawaz of the Rs. 300 billion of corrupt money he has laundered outside Pakistan.
He highlighted the role of the institutions in the prosperity of the nations. The PTI Chairman said, “we [Pakistan] could only move forward, if we build up strong institutions and to achieve this goal, we must get rid of corrupt mafia and cronies ruling the country”.
Imran will continue his efforts to deny Nawaz a chance to revamp his image and will seemingly continue to hurl the alleged corruption and money laundering charges against the Nawaz and his party.
He lashed out at the senior leadership of PML-N one by one. Addressing the incumbent finance minister (FM) Ishaq Dar, he accused him of amassing substantial assets and turning his family into billionaires.
The outspoken Khan also lamented Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif for holding government office in Pakistan and simultaneously working in Dubai and earning Rs. 1.6 million in salary.
Read more: Nawaz’s anti-judiciary rhetoric and Imran’s defiant rebuttal
Imran mocked Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for apparently serving as a weak leader having absolutely no authority as a PM. He accused him of lacking the courage to remove the indicted Dar.
Earlier, 15,000 chairs were placed to accommodate the supporters of the party. The municipal stadium was decorated with huge banners, posters, and PTI flags. Law enforcement officers were deployed around the stadium to ensure the security of the venue.
It was the first public gathering of PTI after Nawaz declared himself an ideology. In the build-up to the next election of 2018, PTI has stepped up the public campaigns to gain political ground. The party has mounted pressure on the beleaguered leadership of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Last week in Abbottabad, Nawaz Sharif, reminded the public of his past endeavours in the development and prosperity of this country. The untimely ousting, the apparently unconvincing reasons for disqualification and the ongoing trial in accountability court appears to have tainted Nawaz’s public image. Nawaz wants to rebrand himself after the Panama Papers revelations and alleged corruption charges.
The PTI Chairman said, “we [Pakistan] could only move forward, if we build up strong institutions and to achieve this goal, we must get rid of corrupt mafia and cronies ruling the country”.
He is in no mood to subside and rest after a long haul in politics as he got himself re-elected as the party head and is in a confrontation with institutions for being disqualified from public office despite acquiring a mandate in the general elections of 2013. On the contrary, Imran is relentless in his efforts to expose Nawaz’s corruption. He is blunt and direct in hurling accusations at Nawaz for his role in the alleged corruption and facilitating cronies at the taxpayers’ expense.
Read more: More trouble for Nawaz as Khan moves the Supreme Court
With no settlement or solution in sight to this ongoing struggle between the political heavyweights, Nawaz is contemplating his future through threatening rhetoric.
House of Nawaz has adopted a counter-attacking strategy to tackle the crises. Nawaz wants to dilute the pressure by presenting a softer image of himself. In this regard, he is propagating his past efforts in progression and development of the country. Nawaz is advertising the government’s success particularly in infrastructure development and resolving the energy crises.
But some chronic issues such as failure to transform the corrupt culture in government institutions, nepotism, unfair distribution of public resources, failing to revamp the economy through structural changes and no desire shown to reform the institutions have put a question mark on his development rhetoric.
Imran mocked Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for apparently serving as a weak leader having absolutely no authority as a PM.
Under the tense current political clout, the House of Nawaz wants to buy time, which seems to be denied. However, his legal team is making inroads by taking advantage of the Pakistan’s slow and flexible judicial system that favours the defence immensely. Moreover, it doesn’t matter if you are politically influential or not; it is challenging to proceed as the defence seeks time and adopts various delaying tactics.
Read more: PTI challenges NA-120 by elections results: More woes for Nawaz Sharif?
Imran is aware of Nawaz’s strategy. In the next few days, Imran will continue his efforts to deny Nawaz a chance to revamp his image and will seemingly continue to hurl the alleged corruption and money laundering charges against the Nawaz and his party. Amid accusations and a never-ending war of words, this game of thrones is entering its final episode i.e. general elections of 2018.