PM Imran Khan admits failure to bring about promised change in Pakistan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday admitted that he could not bring about real "change" in the country due to "faults" in the system, according to Dawn.

While speaking at a ceremony to award the top 10 best performing ministries, Khan highlighted the disconnect between his government and the national interest.

Khan began his political career by promising to change Pakistan through "revolutionary steps". He said he later realised that the system impeded him because it was "incapable of absorbing shock".

"Are our ministries performing how to stabilise the country through increasing exports and how the condition of the people can be improved; how poverty can be eliminated?” he asked.

Khan explained that increasing exports, finding import substitutions, alleviating poverty and reaching out to the general public were significant areas of national interest. He stressed the need for putting in place a system of reward and punishment, as well as the importance of finding out-of-the-box solutions to the problems of the state, in general.

He also added that the streamlining of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) now meant that bureaucrats had no excuse for not “signing pending files”.