Riding popularity crest: Imran Khan pledges to defeat dynastic politics

Says intra-party election in K-P proves his party’s democratic credentials.

PESHAWAR:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan said on Sunday that dynastic politics involved in corrupting and plundering the country will be duly dealt with once his party comes to power.

After holding intra-party elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sunday’s gathering was PTI’s first major show of strength in the province. Though several political personalities from K-P left PTI after developing differences with its leaderships over party tickets and portfolios, Imran said that his party stands undeterred and is ready to face all odds.

“Those who thought ‘tsunami’ has lost its strength were mistaken. In fact, after going through intra-party elections and empowering workers to elect their leaders from the grassroots level, the tsunami has changed into a ‘tsunama’, which will defeat dynastic politicians in the upcoming elections,”  he said.

In his address, Imran mocked the leadership of major political parties for ensuring rampant corruption and lawlessness in the country.

He said that on March 23 his party will reveal its election manifesto in which they will declare how his party plans to tackle challenges faced by the nation. Imran said that his party has solutions for curbing energy crisis and establishing lasting peace in the tribal areas and to end sectarian and ethnic violence in the country.

“Now that elections are around the corner, political parties who had opposed our peace march to Waziristan are holding All Parties Conferences (APC) to carry out dialogues with the Taliban,” he said, adding that “these leaders are not sincere with people.”

Congratulating candidates who were victorious in the intra-party elections, Imran said that the democratic electoral process within PTI has posed serious threats to other leaders whose parties rely on dynastic politics and are afraid of sharing power outside their kith and kin.

“The day my party members elect my son as the party leader, I will resign,” Imran said.

“Ordinary political workers of Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will ask their leaders why they cannot be elected for the top portfolios in the parties,” he said, adding that it is a victory for PTI as they have proved to set democratic trends in the country.

Imran urged his party leaders to put their differences aside after the intra-party elections and focus on the elections.

PTI’s central leadership is concerned about the differences between its provincial president Asad Qaiser and General Secretary Shoukat Ali Yousafzai. The party fears that the dispute could adversely affect the party’s performance in the upcoming polls, a provincial leader said while requesting anonymity.

Since the intra-party elections, both provincial leaders were rarely seen together at public gatherings and both held separate press conferences in the past few weeks.

At the gathering Imran also said that PTI is initiating its ‘Tabdeli Razakar’ programme, in which one million young adults will be inducted.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2013.