Pak PM accuses Prez of following PTI’s dictates

Imran unveils 10-point roadmap to revive cash-strapped Pak

LAHORE: Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan held a massive rally here on Sunday and presented his party’s 10-point roadmap for the cash-strapped country’s economic recovery, including sops for the diaspora.

Addressing the public rally at Minar-i-Pakistan in the early hours of Sunday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman challenged the country’s ruling party to put forward a plan to rescue Pakistan from the many crises it finds itself mired in. “I challenge that the incumbent rulers don’t have the ability or the intention [to save the country],” he said.

Imran Khan, 70, said he would happily step aside if the establishment tells him they have a plan. “I know what the programme is… there is no programme,” he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

Announcing the 10-point programme, Khan said that overseas Pakistanis will be motivated to invest in Pakistan to attract foreign direct investments to avoid going to the IMF again and again.

“We will facilitate all those who would export and bring dollars into the country,” he added. Pakistan, which is in dire need of funds as it battles a wrenching economic crisis, has received economic assistance from the IMF in the past. The country is in discussions with global lender to resume its loan programme.

Khan asserted that the country needs to take difficult decisions to improve its tax collections and exports. “A major surgery is needed to put our house in order. Overseas Pakistanis will bring their dollars to the country provided they are given incentives,” he said.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday hit back at President Arif Alvi, accusing him of being partisan and following the dictates of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party instead of remaining neutral as the head of the state. His comments came two days after President Alvi in a letter on Friday accused the premier of using disproportionate force against politicians, political workers and journalists in recent clashes with former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI. The president, who was a member of Khan’s party before assuming the office, had also asked Sharif to direct all authorities to assist the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in holding the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections as per the orders of the Supreme Court.