LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan unveiled his party’s manifesto for the general elections on Thursday at the National Membership Convention at Aiwan-i-Iqbal on Thursday, saying he would ensure that country’s majority population come out of abject poverty and avail equal opportunities for growth.

He said the party would prepare prudent policies based on social justice, legal justice and educational justice – to ensure that talent should be honed in “Naya Pakistan”.

Mr Khan said the party membership would empower all party members to give their opinions and drive party decisions and policies.

Citing China’s example of bringing 700 million population out of poverty in three decades, he said: “The PTI (after coming into power) will only focus on bringing people out of poverty, who were being suppressed by a small elite class for the past seven decades.”

The PTI chief regretted that all policies being developed and implemented in Pakistan aimed at making the rich richer and the poor poorer. He said the state-run hospitals were in a shambles while public schools were suppressing the talent of children belonging to the underprivileged class. He said the PTI’s government would support the poor farmers to get seeds and fertilizers at low cost and get proper price of their produce.

“It will be PTI’s responsibility to give decent jobs to the unemployed youth or offer them loans so that they could fight poverty,” he said and added that his party would ensure that the rich give taxes to lessen financial burden on poor masses.

He said disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif had given just Rs5,500 tax in a previous year. He also regretted that each Pakistani, including newborns, was now facing a Rs20,000 debt.

Kicking party’s membership campaign, Mr Khan stressed that all party workers and supporters should get party membership card that would register them in party’s database. He said the database would empower him as well as other leaders to seek their opinion to make decisions with regard to grant of party tickets for the upcoming general elections. He stressed the party workers to set up camps and do maximum membership for the party.

Soon after the next general elections, he said, the party would hold intra-party elections.

Earlier, speaking at the convention, PTI secretary-general Jahangir Tareen said the party would give tough time to the ruling PML-N in all constitutions and asserted “the PTI will conquer Lahore”.

Referring to the cases against him and party chief Imran Khan in courts, he said, the PML-N and some media groups had launched a propaganda against them. “Your party chairman and secretary-general have not done anything wrong that may embarrass you at any point of time,” he told the highly charged workers at the convention. “We have addressed all questions as well as provided record, including money-trails,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2017