Imran says he’ll sweep the elections

The 59-year-old cricketer  entered politics 15 years ago when he founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party and struggled to translate his sporting fame into votes. But his political fortunes changed in October.

He said he was shocked that crowds he estimated at 250,000 people turned out to support him not only in Lahore but later in Karachi, apparently attracted by his pledge to fight corruption, promote real democracy, institute a welfare system, and change Pakistan’s relationship with the United States.

Imran credited the rise of independent TV channels and social media for catapulting his party into the political spotlight and attracting support from prominent politicians and especially from young people.

“Eighty percent of the politicians have joined me ... because their children have revolted,” Imran said. “People basically want the same democratic rights that exist in the Western countries. They want the same democracy, the same freedom.”

National elections are not scheduled until 2013, but Imran and other opposition leaders have been pressing the government to hold earlier polls. Despite Imran’s rising popularity, it’s unclear how much he can shake up the political scene in the 2013 elections.

Both the Pakistan Peoples Party led by President Asif Ali Zardari and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have strongly entrenched bases of support that will be difficult to challenge. Imran said he was not daunted by these parties which he called “political mafias.”

“The struggle that’s coming up in Pakistan is between a population dying for a democratic change against these political mafias that have stunted our growth and sold the interests of the country,” he said at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

“I don’t think we’ll win the election — I think we’ll sweep the elections,” Imran predicted. “But I hope we get two-thirds (of the seats in Parliament) and I think we will.”

If the party wins, he said he will immediately focus on instituting the rule of law, expanding health care and education, especially for women, collecting taxes and tackling the country’s energy crisis.