Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday rejected the tax amnesty scheme announced by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, claiming that similar schemes have failed in the past and that "they are created to benefit the corrupt."
PM Abbasi had earlier today announced tax reforms, with one of the main features of his package being an amnesty scheme aimed at wooing erstwhile tax evaders.
PM announces simplified income tax package, amnesty scheme for foreign assets
Imran, however, does not agree that the scheme will have its intended effect, telling his party workers in Sanghar: "No amnesty scheme has ever been successful in this country. Only corrupt elements become the ultimate beneficiaries."
"The amnesty scheme is meant to fool the honest people of the country and encourage corrupt elements to plunder and amass wealth, only to be whitewash it later on."
The PTI chief also questioned the timing of the amnesty scheme, with the incumbent government nearing the end of its five-year tenure.
During his rally, Imran also criticised the provincial government, pointing out that "the conditions in Sindh have progressively deteriorated under PPP's reign."
"Sindh's education and health sectors are in a poor state and the people here have been consuming polluted drinking water because of which every fourth person has been suffering from hepatitis," he said. "Children are dying due to contaminated drinking water."
Imran claimed that the Sindh police was supposed to protect people but is instead being used to enslave the people with fake cases.
He said there is a massive contrast in the lives of Sindh's ruling elite and the natives, saying: "The PPP ministers, their allies and Asif Zardari’s sister are billionaires, but their voters have been living under poor conditions."
The PTI chairman accused the PPP of using the Bhutto name for their own benefit. "The people of Sindh are being looted in the name of Bhutto," he said, adding: "PTI will get Sindh freed from Asif Zardari."