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Early elections will strengthen democracy: Imran Khan

December 13, 2017

KARACHI, Dec 13 (INP): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman who arrived in the southern port city on Wednesday, continued his tirade against the ruling PML-N government and reiterated his call for early elections. The PTI chairman said that current circumstances in the country dictate that early elections be held in order to bring about stability as the incumbent government has failed in its duties. "The sooner the government goes towards early polls, the better it will be," said Imran. The PTI chairman further said that the handicapped government, with a puppet prime minister, was only working to save the Sharif family's corruption. Imran elaborated on four points, including the state of the economy, FATA's merger with KP and the Model Town inquiry report, which he said formed the basis for his call for early elections. Referring to the recent devaluation of rupee, Imran said the incumbent government cannot tackle the current economic crisis. "The economy will get worse if this government continues." He also said that the falling rupee is resulting in increasing the debt burden on the country. Imran also spoke about FATA's merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and said that the National Action Plan (NAP) had clearly mentioned that FATA should be mainstreamed and merged with the province. "FATA should be merged with KP as soon as possible." The PTI chairman said if the issue of the merger is pushed forward to 2023, then terrorism might return to the province. Speaking on the Model Town inquiry report, he said the report clearly implicates Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He asked, how could the two be prosecuted by law if they remain in power and said both should resign. Imran also spoke of the recent protests at Islamabad's Faizabad interchange and said that if the Army had not intervened, there would have been bloodshed. He maintained that the issue has not been settled and the people are asking the reasons for the secret agreement between the government and the protesters. "The only way to solve these problems is early elections," said Imran once more after detailing his four points. The PTI supremo stated that now that Nawaz has been deposed, he will shift his focus to Sindh and make the province his priority. He also announced that he will be holding a rally in the province's interior on Friday. Addressing the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the US, Imran said humans across the world — not only Muslims — who have value for basic rights, have been disturbed by Israel’s move and US President Donald Trump’s statement on Jerusalem. Imran said he feared that such a move would further fan terrorism in the world and added the coming days could also see a rise in hatred against US and Israel. "Palestinians do not have an army to fight for and protect them, he added. Therefore, they will have to fight for themselves and use their own selves as a weapon." However, Imran said, Pakistan has an army to fight for the country, but some factions, such as parties like Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, are against the army, Imran added. "They criticise the forces, we have too, but going against the army especially when it supports democracy is not the right move to make," added the PTI chairman. About the PTI rally in Karachi, Imran said they want to hold one on December 25 in the city to show that theirs is the biggest party in the metropolis of Sindh. Earlier, the PTI chairman, who arrived in the port city on Wednesday, met with members of the trade and industry who complained that the party's Karachi chapter was not accessible and they felt ignored. INP/AJ