Imran holds rally at Minar-i-Pakistan despite threats
   Date :27-Mar-2023

Minar-i-Pakistan  
 
 
By M Zulqernain
LAHORE, 
 
PAKISTAN’S ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan held a massive rally here on Sunday and presented his party’s 10-point roadmap for the cash-strapped country’s economic recovery, including sops for the diaspora. Khan, who is facing threats to his life, addressed the rally from a bullet-proof glass. A large number of women also gathered at the historic park. Addressing the public rally at Minar-i-Pakistan in the early hours of Sunday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman challenged the country’s ruling party to put forward a plan to rescue Pakistan from the many crises it finds itself mired in.
“I challenge that the incumbent rulers don’t have the ability or the intention [to save the country],” he said. Khan, 70, said he would happily step aside if the establishment tells him they have a plan. “I know what the programme is…there is no programme,” he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. Announcing the 10-point programme, Khan said that overseas Pakistanis will be motivated to invest in Pakistan to attract foreign direct investments to avoid going to the IMF again and again. “We will facilitate all those who would export and bring dollars into the country,” he added.
Pakistan, which is in dire need of funds as it battles a wrenching economic crisis, has received economic assistance from the IMF in the past. The country is in discussions with global lender to resume its loan programme. Khan asserted that the country needs to take difficult decisions to improve its tax collections and exports. “A major surgery is needed to put our house in order. Overseas Pakistanis will bring their dollars to the country provided they are given incentives,” he said, adding that only 2.5 million Pakistanis out of 220 million pay taxes. “There is a need to increase the tax base to achieve progress,” he said and also proposed giving loans to young people to start businesses and reviving the mortgage scheme.