PESHAWAR: PTI chief Imran Khan on Friday said the country did not get any leader who came through democratic process as some were groomed by former military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq while the others were hereditary.
Zia groomed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari inherited politics on the basis of a will from his spouse Benazir Bhutto, he said. However, Nawaz couldn’t become a leader despite that, Imran said.
Imran added that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari did not have any service for democracy and didn’t work even for a minute but he says he would look after the entire country.
The PTI chief said that some ‘fools’ thought that development came through constructing roads and bridges. “Only quality education and upholding merit can guarantee development,” he maintained. He described Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as the biggest actor. “His development is limited to advertisements in newspapers. Wherever Shahbaz goes he repeats his claim that this or that place would be developed like Paris. His development stopped after the court slapped a ban on running ads in media on government expenses,” Imran added.
Imran was speaking at the cash distribution ceremony among the first batch of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Impact Challenge initiative at Nishtar Hall and the Digital Youth Summit 2018 held at a local hotel.
He also acknowledged the struggle of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan when someone from the audience interrupted him and turned his attention toward the late freedom- fighter. “Yes, Bacha Khan had a history of political struggle and he was a leader too,” Imran added.
When another youth interrupted the PTI chairman as he was giving examples of leaders and shouted that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman was also a leader, Imran said his late father Maulana Mufti Mehmood was a leader.
Imran Khan claimed the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government improved the standard of education and health services at the public sector hospitals. He reiterated his claim that parents withdrew their children from private schools and enrolled at the state-run schools because of the improvements in the latter.
“Around 150,000 children were withdrawn from private schools and enrolled at government schools,” he claimed.