UPPER DIR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday slammed the ‘VIP protocol’ given to the members of Sharif family who have been indicted by the accountability court in different corruption references.
“Small thieves go to jail but the great ones get a 40-car motorcade protocol,” the PTI chief told supporters at a mass gathering in Upper Dir, adding that the nation was paying for the loot of its elite. “When small thieves carry out robberies then one family or one household is affected by it, however when a country’s head engages in corrupt practices then it affects the entire nation.”
“The amount misappropriated by all the prisoners in the country won’t stand equal to the cost of one residence owned by [Nawaz] Sharif in London,” the PTI chief said, demanding the looted money should be brought back into the country and spent on the people of Pakistan.
The PTI chief said in 2008, every Pakistani had a debt worth Rs 35,000 on his head, which has now increased to Rs 120,000 per person. “Where has all this money gone?” he asked.
Imran reiterated that his party intended to introduce a merit-based system in Pakistan. “We haven’t been progressing because our leaders, instead of promoting merit, have been involved in nepotism,” he said. “The new Pakistan will be for the youths to build.”
Published in Daily Times, October 28th 2017.
