7-point agenda: Imran Khan demands Zardari’s resignation

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan demanded President Asif Ali Zardari’s immediate resignation while announcing his seven-point agenda to the media on Tuesday.

“Free and fair elections cannot take place till Zardari is here. He is the reason for Pakistan’s destruction,” said Imran, adding that the president appointed three prime ministers in his tenure and all three were corrupt.“They are usurping money through corruption and are using that money to buy the elections,” he asserted. He also alleged that the president is working against the Constitution.Other demands of the party included an immediate announcement of date for general elections and a neutral caretaker setup which is free of “muk muka“.

Imran maintained that no change can come in Pakistan unless free and fair elections take place and a government comes through the public mandate.The party also demanded the the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) take notice of pre-poll rigging being done by many parties on the expense of the public exchequer. “We have complained to the election commission about how the Punjab government and the central government are carrying out pre-poll rigging… by distributing laptops and through the Benazir Income Support Programme.”

Citing news reports regarding public funds which were used for election campaigning, Imran lamented that the election commission has not replied to any of his party’s complaints. He expressed distrust on election commission officials, but expressed confidence over the chief election commissioner’s credibility.The party chairman also called for implementation of Supreme Court’s recent order of arresting Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Rental Power Plants case. “We will come out on the roads if orders are not implemented.”The terrorists involved in the killings of the Hazara community in Quetta should also be brought to justice, he demanded. – TheExpressTribune