PAKISTAN: Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan asks supporters to vote for change ahead of general election

Record ID: 213970

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan asks supporters to vote for change ahead of general election
  • Date: 3rd May 2013
  • Summary: ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN (MAY 3, 2013) (REUTERS) SUPPORTERS OF IMRAN KHAN'S PARTY 'TEHREEK-E-INSAF' (MOVEMENT OF JUSTICE) WAVING FLAGS FLAGS SUPPORTERS WAVING FLAGS SECURITY PERSON GUN HELD BY SECURITY PERSON CRICKETER-TURNED POLITICIAN IMRAN KHAN, CHAIRMAN OF TEHREEK-E-INSAF PARTY, ARRIVING TO ADDRESS SUPPORTERS CROWD CHEERING SUPPORTER WEARING PARTY FLAG AS HEADBAND WITH POSTER OF CANDIDATE KHAN ADDRESSING CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) CHAIRMAN OF TEHREEK-E-INSAF PARTY, IMRAN KHAN, SAYING: "While casting your vote, you should not follow the advice of your relatives or the community. You should not follow the advice of your friends. You have to take into account one thing only, the ideology. We are bringing ideology back in politics. The ideology of a new Pakistan." CROWD WAVING PARTY FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) SUPPORTER OF IMRAN KHAN, AMIR KHAN, SAYING: "Imran Khan is the only leader who has the ability, who has the capacity to bring change in Pakistan. He can bring peace to the people of Pakistan, he can end poverty and ignorance." IMRAN KHAN LEAVING STAGE AS SUPPORTERS CHANT (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) SUPPORTER OF IMRAN KHAN, MOHAMMAD ARSHAD, SAYING: "Imran Khan is very popular in our country and worldwide. He can end inflation, poverty and corruption and above all the bombings." SUPPORTERS LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAGWYHPP2BWZ0UUSIHWHZC3XKB
  • Story Text: Pakistani cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan told voters on Friday (May 3) to follow their own convictions and not be guided by what elders in their community may dictate.
    The rally was held in Abbottabad, where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011.
    Khan's supporters gathered at Abbottabad degree college, about three kilometres away from the compound where U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in a secret raid. A day earlier the anniversary of bin Laden's death passed quietly.
    Addressing thousands of supporters, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan said the "changes" he had promised were already there.
    He told voters they should not cast their vote for traditional parties or follow the advice of elders but to make up their own mind. He called on his supporters to vote for change and the ideology of a "new Pakistan".
    "While casting your vote, you should not follow the advice of your relatives or the community. You should not follow the advice of your friends. You have to take into account one thing only, the ideology. We are bringing ideology back in politics. The ideology of a new Pakistan," Khan said.
    Khan's supporters said he was the only one who could bring the country out of its troubles.
    "Imran Khan is the only leader who has the ability, who has the capacity to bring change in Pakistan. He can bring peace to the people of Pakistan, he can end poverty and ignorance," Amir Khan said.
    "Imran Khan is very popular in our country and worldwide. He can end inflation, poverty and corruption and above all the bombings," said another supporter, Mohammad Arshad.
    Earlier in the day, Khan also addressed public gatherings in the north-western cities of Batagram, Mansehra and Haripur.
    Khan and Nawaz Sharif, the two-time prime minister whose PML-N party is said to be the frontrunner, are the only two leaders addressing big rallies despite security threats.
    A rally of Khan in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, was cancelled last Sunday (April 28) after attacks on ANP and MQM parties killed more than 20 people.
    The three main parties in the outgoing government, the PPP, the MQM and the ANP, have curtailed public gatherings in the face of direct Taliban threats.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register