See what I do to you after no-trust vote fails, Imran

MULTAN: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that a clique of looters, after looting the country ruthlessly in the past, has now united to protect their vested interests by creating a hype about a no-trust motion against the government.

Addressing a huge public gathering in Mailsi here on Sunday, the prime minister said that he had entered politics some 25 years ago to confront these corrupt elements and he would continue to face them. He said that he was fully prepared to tackle the moves made by a ‘bunch of thieves’.

Enraged, Khan used derogatory nicknames for his rivals. The prime minister challenged them to introduce the no-confidence motion in the parliament, declaring that after its failure, they would have to face the consequences.

The prime minister said the people behind the no-confidence move were Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The Supreme Court had convicted Nawaz Sharif and now he was an absconder sitting abroad. He went abroad with his ‘Bollywood acting’ while making requests to government on his health issues. “Whether a timid person can be a leader who had fled the country twice?”

He said the thrice-elected prime minister of the country had been living in luxurious and palatial house in the UK and when he was asked to explain the sources of his ill-gotten wealth and properties, he disowned them, telling that these belonged to his children who were not citizens of Pakistan. The prime minister said that the two families of Sharif and Zardari had plundered the country during the last 30 years.

Referring to the alleged corruption of the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister said an amount of Rs3.75 billion was detected in the account of his servant and peon Maqsood. Shehbaz will have to give answers to the criminal charges. If he had earned the money through fair means, it would have been deposited in his accounts rather than landing in his servant’s account, he said.

The prime minister said during Benazir Bhutto’s first tenure, her spouse Zardari earned notoriety and the name of Mr 10 percent across the world. Newspapers and books contained stories of their untamed corruption, even BBC had released a documentary on their corruption, he said, adding both families framed corruption cases against each other.

Similarly, in the National Assembly, Zardari also denied owning the Surrey Palace and $60 million dollar Swiss accounts, but when he got the NROs, these assets were embezzled. The two families had burdened Pakistan with a whopping Rs30,000 billion debts during 10 years of their rule, he added. Now, this group of vested interests had gathered, claiming that the situation in Pakistan was not good.

He said that Asif Zardari used to sell cinema tickets in black, Nawaz Sharif imprisoned Asif Zardari twice for corruption and Zardari made the case of Hudabia Paper Mills against the Sharifs.

About Fazlur Rehman, the prime minister said that he would not call him a ‘maulana’, a term used for learned and respected persons, as the leader of JUI-F had bargained over diesel permits. The prime minister said Fazlur Rehman had brought seminary pupils to Islamabad by misleading them. In the presence of such a clique of dacoits, no one was required to conspire against his government.

Prime Minister Imran Khan announced to table a bill in the National Assembly for the creation of a separate province of South Punjab. He said that the federal government will spend an additional 500 billion rupees for the development of South Punjab.

The prime minister said the government was taking concrete steps to reduce inflation, create job opportunities and strengthen national economy. The Federal Board of Revenue collected record tax last year, which will be spent on the welfare of masses.

He said the government took measures to provide relief to farmers, which will pave the way for the development of the country. He said government was providing subsidy worth 132 billion rupees on purchase of Urea, while fertilizer was being imported from China to overcome its deficiency.

Talking about the coronavirus, he said the government announced a smart lockdown policy during the pandemic to save national economy from adverse impacts of the pandemic. Talking about recent bomb blast in Peshawar, he said the government was committed to overcoming terrorism and promoting peace and stability in the country.

Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar addressed the public meeting in Mailsi and announced development projects worth billions of rupees for the Vehari district. He also announced the establishment of a university in Vehari. He announced to approve funding for sewerage and water supply projects in Mailsi.

The prime minister was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, federal ministers Asad Umar, Khusro Bakhtiar, Special Assistant Amir Dogar, Senator Faisal Javed and others.