Imran draws parallels between KP, Sindh

• PTI chairman says Galiyat near Abbottabad looks like Europe; points out bad governance in Sindh, dirt in Karachi

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday drew parallels between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh from the perspective of administrative and political challenges that stand in the way of efficient governance.

Addressing a gathering of traders here on Labour Day, he shared his views on devolution of power, police reforms, tax collection and good governance. Talking about the work his party has done for the province, he said that Galiyat near Abbottabad has started to look like Europe.

“The powers the Karachi mayor is asking for are those that Peshawar mayor already has,” he told the audience. “The more you devolve power the more efficient your systems will be. Devolution is really important for Karachi. The current set-up is neither here nor there,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of having democratically elected representatives being answerable to the public. In Peshawar, the mayor gets to spend 30 per cent of the development budget, he told the audience. Among other things, he considers the rooting out of corruption as one of his party’s significant achievements in Pakhtunkhwa.

“Why are we getting record levels of investment in Pakhtunkhwa,” he questioned. Because the companies know that they won’t have to pay bribes at every level, he said, adding that they know that if they spot something unusual, they can tell Imran Khan about it and Imran Khan will take action. On police and law and order, he said that the KP police, after being reformed, stood at a much better place than they once did.

“Even Allah Dino Khawaja says he wants a police like that of Pakhtunkhwa,” he said, while quoting police chief of Sindh. “How did we improve KP’s policing? We installed Nasir Durrani as police head and gave him authority,” he said, claiming that the police was so politicised in Punjab, almost all “our leadership in Punjab has cases registered against them.”

Scoffing at the role of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan’s apex tax collecting authority, he said that Pakistan was a very generous nation. “We give more in charity than we do in taxes. What does that indicate,” he questioned. He spoke about creating an environment where people pay taxes out of choice as opposed to compulsion, stressing that it was only possible if taxpayers could see their money being spent on their own development.

“Why would anyone pay taxes if the money is going to go to Panama and Dubai? We don’t know how many Ayan Alis are leaving the country with suitcases full of money,” he said. He ended his speech by thanking the traders present at the occasion. He reminded them how significant their contributions had been in setting up the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.

“When I started my campaign to launch Shaukat Khanum, a lot of people encouraged me but only a few actually donated money. The traders helped a lot,” he said. He concluded his Labour Day speech by directing PTI leader Asad Umar to set-up a committee that would be responsible for registering and addressing the concerns of the traders.