Zardari, Faryal foremost among thieves: Imran

Says PTI will now rid people of ‘this corrupt govt’

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday criticised Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders, especially its Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur, calling them “foremost among the thieves who wilfully looted and plundered the public money”.

“The situation in Sindh cannot improve until and unless both of them are sent to jail,” Khan said of Zardari and Faryal while speaking at a press conference in Karachi. He had recently addressed a big public gathering in Hyderabad.

The PTI chief said Zardari and Faryal actually controlled all provincial departments, including police, revenue and irrigation. He added these leaders used the police to lodge fake cases against innocent people to deprive farmers of irrigation water, forcing them to vote and support the PPP.



“Now after the Panamagate case [verdict], the PTI will focus on Sindh because we have to get rid of this corrupt government too,” he said, adding that no transfers, postings, fresh appointments and release of development funds were possible without the consent of Zardari.

Referring to dilapidated roads and piles of garbage littering Karachi, Khan said corruption was the main cause of deteriorating infrastructure in the city.

He also requested the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman to initiate inquiry into the purchase of properties worth $8 billion by “a few people in Dubai”. He added, “The money supposed to be spent here is being laundered abroad.”

Sharing his future vision for Sindh, the PTI chief said his party would organise a public gathering in Obaro, an area bordering Sindh and Punjab on November 5. Subsequently, he said, the party would start holding meetings at the district level across the province to mobilise people about their rights.

Citing a research study, he said nearly 480 million gallons of untreated sewerage water was being dumped directly into the sea, greatly damaging ecology. “Mangrove forests have been devastated, diminishing the livelihood of fishermen,” he said.



LG system

Commenting on the devolution of powers and the local government system in Karachi, Khan said: “The situation cannot improve until and unless a proper local government system is introduced to empower representatives of local bodies.”

The PTI, he said, would soon introduce reforms in the LG system. “Our success can be gauged by the fact that the mayor of Karachi is now demanding a local government system based on the model of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.

Ruining the institutions

The PTI chief accused the successive governments of ruining state-run institutions, companies and departments.

“PIA’s financial woes have persistently worsened and the Steel Mills has now become a symbol of incompetence of successive governments,” he said, adding that political appointments, overstaffing and corruption had all damaged national institutions.

Calling deposed PM Nawaz Sharif ‘godfather’, he said the Sharifs were not alone in “this evil pursuit”, but he had the support of his entire team of mafia.

“The PML N has infiltrated its people into all government institutions, save for the army and judiciary,” he said, adding that the PTI was not waging a war against Sharif alone, but was also struggling against status quo that allowed the incumbent government to wield political influence over all institutions and departments.

Responding to a question about Ayesha Gulalai, the estranged PTI MNA, he said she had been elected MNA on a women-reserved seat. “After publicly announcing his resignation from the party, she must vacate the seat as well,” he said.