ISLAMABAD: Two days after his initial statement on U-turns, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Sunday elaborated on his previous statement, saying that taking a U-turn to reach one’s objective is the “hallmark of great leadership.”
“Doing a U-turn to reach one’s objective is the hallmark of great leadership, just as lying to save ill-gotten wealth is the hallmark of crooks,” he said in a tweet.
Doing a U-turn to reach one’s objective is the hallmark of great leadership just as lying to save ill-gotten wealth is the hallmark of crooks.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 18, 2018
Earlier on Friday, the PM had sparked nationwide responses when he said that a leader who does not take “U-turns” according to requirements of the situation is not a real leader.
Talking to journalists at the Prime Minister’s House, the premier had cited an example from his cricket days when he led Pakistan’s national team, saying, “We used to make strategies for matches but if those plans failed to deliver then we would make new strategies.”
PM Khan referred to Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte and said, “Hitler and Napoleon suffered huge defeats and caused losses as they did not take U-turns.”
“If you are walking and there is a wall in front of you, then you will have to find another way around it,” PM Khan said, adding that “a leader who does not know how to take U-turns is not successful.”
However, taking a jibe at former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, PM Khan said that “what Nawaz did in court was not a U-turn but a lie”.
Soon after the PM’s statement, prominent political figures, especially members of the opposition had taken jibes at him one after the other.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former federal minister Khawaja Asif said, “Imran Khan will take a U-turn on his U-turn statement as well. Please wait it won’t be before long.”
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah said, “Imran Khan is Hitler and is taking U-turns to avoid losses.”
However, President Arif Alvi, coming to the PM’s defence, chimed in saying, “Decisions are taken according to the situations”.