ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan says the key to eradicating corruption from Pakistan is to remove the current president, prime minister, and cabinet members. He was speaking during an interview with Al-Jazeera.
“If you have a clean cabinet, half the battle is over,” said Khan when asked about how he would end corruption and militancy in Pakistan in 90 days, as he had previously claimed.
Khan stated that all major corruption cases in Pakistan were related to the prime minister, the president or senior cabinet members.
He said that if his party is brought to power, he would remove these politicians and maintain his guarantee to rid Pakistan of corruption and militancy in 90 days.
Khan criticises US presence in Afghanistan
When asked about how a Mitt Romney win would affect relations between Pakistan and the US, Khan replied, “At the moment, we’re not sure. Both candidates seem to have the same attitude to this war on terror.”
He hoped that if Obama wins, he will strive towards his instinct for peace as he will no longer be concerned with reelection. He reiterated that there was no military solution in this part of the world and that the US should make a concerted effort for peace.
'Pakistan must disengage'
Khan insisted that Pakistan must disengage from the US war on terror. “Either the US leaves [Afghanistan], or Pakistan must disengage.”
According to Khan, this would allow Pakistan to mobilise the people of the tribal areas, who he suggests hold the key to a peaceful solution.
The war on terror is perceived by the Pashtun people to be a war on Islam, Khan stated, and that Pakistan’s support of the war makes it appear as an accessory to this.
He also condemned suicide bombers’ targeting the Pakistani army.
The interview was conducted by Dareen Abughaida through a video link from Islamabad.
COMMENTS (62)
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@Arif Khan
Every sentence of your post is on point. It is too bad that even the so called intelligentsia of Pakistan have bought in to the lies of the Pakistani elite and in the process created enmity with two of its most important neighbors, India and Afghanistan.
@Zee: The same question can be asked of you: what have you done? We have had to leave for a foreign land (where Pakistanis are treated like pariahs, even though Dubai is a Muslim country)to make two ends meet because our "mother country" could not -- or did not -- give us the luxury of a basic existence. But we have one advantage over you: living outside the country has also given us another perspective and we know what Pakistani politicians do when they are within and outside the country. They are the proverbial wolves in sheep's clothing which can be tossed away whenever the wolves come closer to their prey. As any human being with some degree of common sense (we are not even talking of the intelligence of a rocket scientist!) will tell you, Pakistan has huge colossal problems -- it suffers from chronic political instability, an excessive budget consumed by the country's armed forces which try to justify their bloated existence with the "threat" from India and our "unflinching commitment" to Kashmir (the majority of Kashmiris, with the exception of a few hardliners and religious extremists, are hardly interested in being associated with the corrupt Pakistani state, let alone uniting with it, because India insulates them much better with generous subsidies and benefits than it does with the rest of the Indian states), a practically dormant economy and a shockingly declining revenue, combined with the constant threat of fanaticism and religious extremism that frighten away investors and our most ardent supporters worldwide (if we have any, that is). Can you honestly believe that Mr.Imran Khan can deliver all the fantastic promises he is making to the people and at the same time continuing to flirt with the reactionaries and religious extremists whose only aim is to drag the country into the stone age? People such as yourself should critically scrutinize the statements by Pakistani leaders (in civilian clothes or uniform) and not blindly believe whatever they tell you.
@Asad: I can feel your pain, but see no light at the end of the tunnel. Be safe.
@All I have gone through all comments negative and positive and I am not supporter of any political party But again asking a question to Jat,Dr. Shafique,Aftab Kenneth Wilson and others. What you guys have done for your country? criticizing is very easy job if you guys see IK as most corrupt person then who is appropriate one? Please do answer?
@Jat: I know that foundation is weak, but at this time we have only one option who is untested, who has better past records then the rest of the leaders, Jat it takes generations to make a stable foundation and we have already wasted so much time, we cannot loose more, we have to go and vote for some leader and I am talking about the WHOLE of us. IK for me is less worst leaders then others.
To put it simply, Pakistan society has failed to produce a pool of second tier and third tier leaders out of which one or two top level leaders can emerge.
@Asad: "@Jat What option do we have? Name any one please."
Asad, unfortunately none. And this has been your society's fault too, you just seem unable to produce leaders. Have you produced an equivalent of JN Nehru, the democrat, an equivalent to Sardar Patel, the pragmatist Ironman, Indira Gandhi, the strategist, PVN Rao, the re-builder of economy and last but not the least, AB Vajpayee, architect of inner strength ?
The only option left for you is to start afresh; pull down the current faulty structure and build a new one with lesser if not minimum of faults. The foundations of your current ideological and political structure are very very weak. Repairs and a fresh coat of paint will NOT work.
@Remi: You did not understand the relevance of Dr. Shafique when he said that Imran Khan's character does not behove well for Pakistan. I have read Dr. Shafique's comments and he has not supported Zardari or, for that matter, Sharif. May be, Zardari, equally inept and not "clean", would be a lesser evil. The people whom Mr. Imran Khan is courting have absolutely no understanding of governance, let alone about such ideals as democracy, human rights, etc.. They will hurtle Pakistan into the graveyard of history and make it even worse than what Afghanistan was under the Taliban. Persecution of women, minorities and others will become an official government policy. Populism is a deadly poison that can take a heavy toll if the people of a nation fall for it. We saw what happened in Hitler's Germany which was swept away by his demagoguery. What Pakistanis, unfortunately, lack is a healthy sense of self-criticism; we have colossal problems confronting us -- these problems are of our own making but we always tend to blame outsiders, be it India, the USA or even the whole world. Do you really believe that Mr. Khan will eradicate corruption, militancy and the other ills, as he has been promising, in 90 days (3 months) if he is elected Prime Minister? The man just wants the chair; from then on, he will manipulate and remain in power. It will be another five years lost (assuming he will relinquish the seat if he is defeated in an election, provided it is held and provided his mullah friends agree to it). I think you are an intelligent person and I leave it to you to judge what is good for Pakistan. We Pakistanis are blind and gullible - and this is particularly the case with illiterate people who fail to see the machinations of politicians -- to just throw away our vote in favour of anyone who promises the moon, no matter how unrealistic the promises are.
How can a person hold his office once SC is pursuing graft charges aganist him. The constitution says public office holders must be of good reputation. The reputation of both President and PM is very bad. NAB is pursuing cases against the PM.
So this is ironical they holding office at the same time.
@Dr. Shafique: A logical and apt analysis. The man is in a real hurry to occupy the chair by making unrealistic promises, appeasing the militants being afraid of them, taking anti-American stand and blaming them for all ills in the country, a pathetic argument which sans logic but being stated to garner more votes. His recent utterances after Malala's incident had not gone too well with the masses who are fed up of militant's atrocities and US too showed its displeasure on the same and both these factors might affect his elections prospects.
@Jat What option do we have? Name any one please.
@Jat: I have my own doubts whether the majority of Pakistanis reading Dr.Shafique's very pertinent comments would understand what he is trying to drive home. Though it began with a lot of sympathty from the world at the time of its birth, Pakistan has evolved retrogressively into a failed nation. If we Pakistanis have intellectual honesty, which has been marred by years of brainwashing about our "superiority" over India by our politicians, then the military and now the mullahs, we would have recognized and acknowledged that our worst enemies are we ourselves; we don't need to blame India, the USA or anyone else for all the problems that are of our own making. Perhaps, it is too late to mend the fence with India but being in the direct neighbourhood of such a large country with the same culture and other similarities, the first logical step would have been to not only strike a friendship with that country but also think of how we could forge together a relationship that could have brought us closer and, in fact, to some kind of a union (better still, to an even bigger country which could have been a superpower, given India's resources, manpower and other assets). Instead, we listened to the gibberish that was thrust down our throats by selfish, scheming and populist politicians. We have not only lost our eastern wing -- Bangladesh -- but are treated like a pariah by all and sundry. It's time we stock of our situation and did some practical, down-to-earth work that would create friends out of foes. The violence of terror, preached by religious extremists, will destroy us and not others for whom we are trying to dig the proverbial grave. Imran Khan, with his usual dandy stuff, is actually a coward and cannot stand up to the extremist mentors with whom he is currently flirting to grab power at any cost, even if it means destroying the country. Thg people of Pakistan should have understood his character after he expressed his "regret" six days after the terrible attack on the brave school girl Malala.
@Dr. Shafique: n btw he dint run when musharaf put him in jail but yeah some other SAINT people of ur choice ran to JEDDAH.
@Dr. Shafique: yeah and if NAWAZ AND ZARDARI gets votes this time there is going to be milk flowing in the rivers and canals every pakistani kid would b eating their food with a Golden spoon and pakistan is goin to be the most develeop country in the whole world?? Can u tell me if this country is going to be govern worse then the current rulers?? Well my question is NO i dont knw about urs.
@Jat: is this wat u could come up with if someone asks to get rid of currupt leaders and ur not kid u knw it better thn me tht how currupt our leaders are.n about investing money m pretty damn sure u r those ones who havnt donated a single penny to this hospital coz those who donates have faith on him thts y they give him. Rest ask ur saint zardari or shareef to make a hospital of this level IF THEY DONT HAVE MONEY get a donation from the people lets see if they get even a 100 rupees in their donation box.
@ Dr Shafique, I liked your comments. Our politicians are waiting for their turn to loot the nation.,Imran Khan is one of them. To get votes they can go to any extend. they will embrace the devil.
@Dr. Shafique: Doctor saab very nicely written. Hope Pakistanis read it, and more importantly understand what you are trying to say.
I have financially strong business friends in Europe and North America. They say they get goose pimples when they simply hear the word "Pakistan". Leave alone investing in the country and buying Pakistani products, many are just thinking of winding up their business in Pakistan and migrating to Bangladesh which has better facilities, friendly workers, less religious trouble from the mullahs and other thugs, etc. Many of them would like to move to India which has, of course, better infrastructure and very smart and educated people but they find there is fierce competition in that country from the local industry.
Pakistanis living abroad describe Mr. Imran Khan as a populist who is pandering to every segment of society to get votes. If this man ever gains power, you can be sure that the country will look worse than Mali and Somali. Mr. Khan is also playing a dangerous game of seeking power by allying himself with extremists and making them look as angels. Consider this: only a tiny minority of the young generation of Pakistanis (age 5 to 15) has ever seen the inside of a traditional school where one can learn science, math, languages, general knowledge and the like. The rest, of course, knows what goes on inside a madrassah. The "graduates" from a madrassah come with a hate-filled mentality that is very destructive and intolerant of others. These are not nation builders whom Pakistan badly needs. Women and also minorities will be the first to suffer under the shariah law which will transform Pakistan into a primitive, barbaric piece of real estate (it cannot be called a "nation" or even a "country"). You saw what the Taliban did in Afghanistan. This is exactly what will also happen to Pakistan if people fall for the words of Mr. Khan who, himself, has never practised what he is preaching to others. If there is a major upheaval in the country and people turned against him, he will be the first to run to a Western country, probably the UK or the USA, to live in safety.
@Falcon: "I had a chance to hear story of a person who was kidnapped for ransom and I was amazed at how the chain of transactions and commissions flows to the top echelon of political and bureaucratic leadership."
Just curious . How would he know? HE would just know who the ransom was handed to - right?
@ZUBAIR: ET I agree with him, the poster should have used a much stronger word than "Stupid".
IK you are greatest Norah Kushti expert. Keep it up your turn to make money will come soon.
I think IK is right a caretaker setup should be put in place till elections so these corrupts are not able to enginnered he elections.
@azad: I want to record my protest to Tribune for approving comments of Mr. Azad. One simple question; what moderator is doing when people are using the words like "Stupid" for a political party head.
@Aftab Kenneth Wilson: More like a cross between Shaikh Chilli and Mohammad Tuglak
There may be hundreds of flaws in pti or imran khan himself but those hundred flaws are 1000 times better than 1 good quality that nawaz or zardari possess and thats the reason why this time the vote will be for imran khan ,his eyes speak volumes of his determination probably deep inside he knows that its his time and no one can stop him coming now no matter how difficult the circumstances are but when ALLAH is with you then u can achieve anything
LONG LIVE IMRAN KHAN
This person is Shaikh Chilli in Pakistani Politics. To become PM of our country is not child's play, yes he can become next Prime Suspect Of our country.
@Pakistani: Whatever I may think of Imran Khan, but have become a fan of your words above ! :)
"The war on terror is perceived by the Pashtun people to be a war on Islam, Khan stated, and that Pakistan’s support of the war makes it appear as an accessory to this"
Pakistan is an accessory to the massacre of Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pashtuns don't perceive the war on terror as a war on Islam. The war on terror is perceived by Afghans/Pashtuns as a war against Pakistani proxies not on Islam. Stop speaking for the Pashtun people, especially for the Pashtuns in Afghanistan.
Mr.Khan I think giving a hope to Pakistan's. Awam. Parties role is to show thier approach, progress, and results .. ..towards the problems nation facing ..but the pig mind leadership of Pakistan only known to eat and sleep. Time to change.....
@Falcon:
It only requires will of political leaders .. those who say they WILL do it most of people in FATA are not oppose to it but just some and its because of the weakness in resolve of State and If we cannot bring it under control now .. then how can we do it after 50 years or 100 yrs when local population will increase manifold.
If those few hundred thousand start paying taxes in your view it is okay if 56,000 people from another country, each day cross that border back & forth (millions of people every year) commit crimes here and run away, live here freely and be a burden on our economy, get free education & healthcare even if our own people are not able to take admissions or treatments? and further be a burden on the supply & demand chain. Even if every single Pakistani pays full tax We can never bring peace and prosperity to this country unless we secure our borders.
@Khan: You raise valid issues-and the answer is YES, he has all the answers! The only barrier is that he is not in the PM seat as yet. If IK takes over as the head of the Government the Regional politics can change for the better as there is LOTS of goodwill and resolve available which could help resolve the issues you have raised. You can reject my suggestions but in the same manner you may be wrong about IK and his vision and his ability. SO GIVE HIM THE CHANCE and Vote for him
I have one vote . . . and it is going to Imran Khan . Cut me in two . . . I get two votes . . . they both go to Imran Khan . Quarter me . . . all four of my votes go to Imran Khan . Hang me . . . and all the votes, including BB's grave's, will go to Imran Khan!
Imran Khan is a dream merchant who is trying to sell unrealistic dreams to the people of Pakistan. There are many in Pakistan who are pinning their hopes on him being an untried horse and want to give him a chance to prove himself as other tried horses had failed to deliver during their respective tenures. But the million dollar question is that how would Imran end terrorism and corruption within a short span of three months as even three years would be too short a period to achieve these gigantic tasks which are spread like a cancer in whole of Pakistan and has deep roots of many a decades ??
@Kamran: "No one here in an angel.. Atleast he is giving you some solutions to our problems.."
What solutions ? If he had real, practical solutions he would be talking about them, not shouting corruption, chor, corruption, chor from the stage.
Let me clear it up for you - accusations are NOT solutions. And people who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others.
@.saima siddiqi
That is Hilarious! Hehe.
Ironically though.. its kind of true as well!! (N) dont have a plan...Nothing...Zilch....Nada!!
Last hope for pakistan
@Khan: For item 6, PTI has already presented the solution in the form of detailed energy policy, for item # 2 the education policy is supposed to be published by end of this month. For integration in FATA, it can not happen like it is. The integration process will be slower by making political and institutional inroads, for which PTI is campaigning. Lastly, rather than blaming it all on 56K people moving across the border, how about the rich few hundred thousand of the country start paying taxes? (and for that too, PTI is the only party campaigning for taxation reforms).
"Khan insisted that Pakistan must disengage from the US war on terror. “Either the US leaves [Afghanistan], or Pakistan must disengage.”
This stupid man makes the same comments again and again. Tell the nation whether the pakistani forces are battling with the taliban on Afghan territry or they protecting its own terriotory and restoring writ of the state! This is our very own war, we have not supplied our armed forces to the war against terror in Afghanistan like other NATO member countries. Pakistan is/should protet its own country against internationl extremist organization. what Imran Khan say is to leave the country at the mercy of extremist!
Where is your tsunami IK? Can you put generals on trials in ninty days.How would you remove politicians out, the way musharaf did and end of the day NRO.Would you dissengage with war in ninty days.If If If..
@Khan: You are so wrong about Democratic system mate. If an elected Govt loses its way during its tenure, it is pressurized to resign. Just study the democracies in West and you will understand what I mean. IK is totally right that this govt should be removed via a democratic method...
@Ali S
Its just you :)
(and PMLN supporters who are still panicking despite the bravado shown on this fourm).
Imran Khan is just a fraud who appeals to lower middle class youths with upper middle class pretensions. Nothing about the man's life shows that he is either pious, intelligent or capable of leading a nation. He talks about Islam and so does his ex-wife, Jemima, but under our Islamic laws, wouldn't she be tried as an apostate? Is she leading an Islamic life now? Why not bring this topic up? Are there separate Sharia rules for the Malalas who want only education but another one for the Jemimas who can carry out affairs in the safety of London?
Why aren't his children living in Pakistan? Is Pakistan not good for them, but good enough for the youths mentioned above? If you can't handle your own family; forget about trying to rule the nation.
All his supporters can do is come up with a one-liner that says: Vote IK or something along that line.
@Ch. Allah Daad
Agreed! not like Nawaz Sharif who has just presented his vision for a new pakistan: http://www.thepmlnvision.com/
Enjoy!
Take care of your party first
Is it just me or have his arguments lost quite a bit of steam since the Malala incident?
IK is going to find angels from somewhere who will do no wrong even when they have all kinds of opportunities to do wrong.
@Zaffar: I wonder if his followers know meaning of holding elections every 5 years because if they do, they would never ask to throw out ELECTED representatives as there is no bigger insult to millions of people who queue up to vote them. No matter how incompetent elected representatives are one should always wait till next election for their accountability (regardless of which party it is). On another note if I.K is such visionary leader does his manifesto include answers to the following problems we're facing? 1. Sealing of A-Pak border that is being used by over 56 thousands people every day without permission. 2. Implementation of single curriculum in all schools & colleges including religious?. 3. Population control since no amount of development work and economic progress can bring prosperity unless we control our over population. Take Israel for example a country less populated but educated enough to be controlling many economies around the world. 4. Repatriation of those millions of refugees who have been living here and putting a burden to our economy, health services, education system etc. 5. Integration of FATA in to settled areas and establishing law enforcement, educational institutions etc. 6. Long term solution to power shortage problem with annual updates on the progress. 7. Making further provinces in Balochistan & Punjab based purely on administration basis not lingual or ethnic.
It seems non of the political parties have any of these problems on their manifesto neither they talk about any of them and on top of that people also vote without knowing why are they voting a certain political party.
@ Jat
Easy mate .. No one here in an angel.. Atleast he is giving you some solutions to our problems.. Right or wrong .. you can chose to disagree with his solutions but give him credit for at least giving you some direction!
Put your hand on your heart and tell me is there any other political leader giving any soilutions to our problems? anyone?
If your answer is a resounding No, then I suggest you better keep it hush for once!
Regards,
He has nothing new to say.
@Jat: No one can convince people like you, Mr. Jat.
Only Imean can do so. All others need to have their families secured, politically and financially. There will never be a law/ action against bigwigs till they are in opposition. Only party that can address such issues is PTI. ......rest are miserable failures
Why tribune always tries to quote Khan in wrong way to put something dubious in readers' minds? He did not demand removal of President and PM in his interview; rather he said major corruption starts from here.
Disengage from War and let Taliban conquer Pakistan. Sharia all the way! Live with it then.
No surprise there! what have they achieved in the last five years??? NOT ONE IMPROVEMENT TO SHOW as they lack capability, vision and leadership which is needed for 21st century. IK Zindabad
And ex-cabinet members who are now in your party, they have magically become clean politicans?
The Next Prime Minister.
And what about the moral corruption that you indulged in, including gambling and womanizing ?
What about the money taken as charity for cancer hospital and then used and lost in real estate gamble in the Middle East ?