Bilawal Bhutto. SCREENGRAB
Treasury and opposition lawmakers on Tuesday fought verbal duels with no holds barred in a National Assembly session where they were supposed to debate rising inflation – particularly skyrocketing prices of food items – amid frantic efforts by the government to rein in the worrying trends.
PML-N stalwart Khawaja Asif led the opposition’s onslaught against the government, but it was PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who stole the media spotlight with his scathing salvo against the prime minister, triggering an equally bitter rejoinder from the treasury benches.
Last week, the government accepted the opposition's challenge for a debate on the price-hike and Speaker Asad Qaiser subsequently fixed Tuesday for the purpose.
When the house convened on Tuesday, Khawaja Asif took the government to task for piling misery on the common man with its “flawed economic policies”. He claimed that not only inflation but financial corruption has also increased during the one-and-a-half-year rule of the PTI.
While Asif’s criticism was guarded, Bilawal showed no restraint. And his tirade was directed at Prime Minister Imran Khan whom he called “incompetent, incapable and selected”.
Taking the floor, Bilawal asked Imran to step down in the country’s best interest. "People are suffering due to inflation and unemployment. This government has sunk a fledgling economy it had inherited from its predecessors … unemployment and poverty are at their highest level,” he claimed.
Bilawal started with presenting economic statistics, saying that inflation during the past 18 months has surpassed the figure recorded in the past 10 years, and went on the claim that the prices of food items have increased by 78%.
“On top of this, the government has increased gas and power tariffs, and fuel prices,” he said. “We cannot sit idle when the people are suffering,” added Bilawal, who has already announced plans to launch a movement to oust the government. “I don’t understand how the members of this house face their constituents.”
He was critical of the government’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. “The IMF deal is a bad deal for the people and for Pakistan. It is a poor deal which was negotiated poorly by those who have compromised on the rights of the people of Pakistan,” he said.
Reminding the prime minister of the pledges he had made during his victory speech after the general elections in July 2018, the PPP chairperson said that Imran Khan used to say he would rather commit suicide than borrowing foreign loans.
But, he continued, the government has borrowed the highest-ever amount in loans in the country’s history. “The State Bank has confirmed that Rs11,000 billion in loans have been borrowed since the PTI came to power whereas in the last 61 years, only Rs6,000 billion had been borrowed.”
He added: “Now … we will not ask him [the prime minister] to commit suicide but at least for the sake of the people he must accept his mistakes and resign, so that the masses could be provided relief. He must acknowledge that he is incompetent and incapable."
Bilawal dubbed the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) as the best social welfare initiative. "This government is sabotaging the BISP, which is the most successful programme to eradicate poverty. This government has abandoned the poor masses."
He then directed his attacks at Prime Minister Imran. “When you have a ‘selected’ government, then there is no regard for the people’s suffering”. He alleged that Imran’s entire career could be credited to an ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] chief.
However, his comments did not go down well with Speaker Asad Qaiser. “He is the prime minister. You cannot speak in this manner,” he reprimanded Bilawal and ordered the remarks be expunged from proceedings.
Earlier, initiating the debate, PML-N parliamentary leader Khawaja Asif said corruption has increased in the country along with price-hike. He warned that the people faced the crucial issues of inflation, which must be addressed on an emergency basis.
"The PTI leadership has not fulfilled the promises made to the people during their tenure in the opposition," Asif told the house. He accused the ruling party of harbouring those who benefitted from the recent crises or patronised the beneficiaries.
The previous PML-N government, Asif observed, ended the gas and electricity crises, eliminated terrorism and restored peace in Karachi. On the other hand, the national economy deteriorated under the PTI government.
He referred to the PTI sit-in during the PML-N government and thanked other political parties for supporting his party during that period. He also appreciated Syed Khursheed Shah of the PPP for working for the supremacy of parliament and democracy.
Asif vowed that his party would work for supremacy of parliament and the Constitution. He made it clear that his party would not become part of any conspiracy against the government and support every step to strengthen democracy in the country.‘Junior minister’
“We will neither conspire [against the government] nor will we strike any deal,” the PML-N leader told the lawmakers in the lower house of parliament. “We will wait until corruption and price hike bring down this government.”
During the speeches of Asif and Bilawal, the opposition lawmakers continued their protests against the government. In his speech, Bilawal called the ministers present in the house as “junior ministers’ which drew ire of the treasury benches.
Communications Minister Murad Saeed, responded to Bilawal’s speech, by launching a counterattack on the PPP chairperson. “How can someone who was handed his political career in his mother’s will, call the prime minister as ‘selected’,” he said.
He asked how an “accidental chairman” could teach politics to them [PTI leaders]. He told the lawmakers that he was the son of a labourer and owned no properties and that he was not a slave to anyone. “I challenged Zardari’s son to pick any constituency, I will contest elections against him.”
Responding to Asif’s allegations that the PTI lawmakers drew salaries even after tendering resignations during their protest sit-in in 2014, Saeed said it was a lie. “We returned the salaries and donated the money to the flood relief fund,” he said.
Path to progress
Speaking next, Abdul Qadir Patel criticised Saeed's taunts at the PPP chairperson. He also criticised the policies of the government and said the common man was facing hardship in running day to day matters.
Taking part in the debate, Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar informed the house that the country has embarked on the path to progress and development after the government stabilised the economy with a prudent strategy.
"The journey to development has begun. Now the economic situation has stabilised, current account deficit has decreased and we are expecting high growth in future," he said. “The rupee has also been stable at Rs155 to a dollar since June 2019.”
The minister said the economy was in bad shape during the tenure of the PML-N; therefore, the government took tough decisions to steer the country out of the morass and avert a looming default. He accused the PML-N government of wasting “$20 billion” to maintain the rupee rate.
“Now, the foreign exchange reserves are improving and the current account deficit is shrinking. The government has cleared short-term liabilities worth Rs400 billion. The government paid off over $10 billion in debt in its first year in power, which is the highest debt-servicing done by any government.”
The minister said the government is all set to enter the higher growth trajectory in the next fiscal year, adding that the international rating agency Moody's International has upgraded Pakistan's raking. He said the government is determined to bring circular debt to zero by December 2020.
The minister admitted that inflation has increased due to the tough steps taken by the government, keeping in view the position of the economy. However, he stressed that the government is taking measures to provide relief to the common man.
“The price of wheat has been stabilised in three provinces and efforts are afoot to reduce the price in Sindh,” he said. He expressed the hope that the price of the sugar would also come down in the coming days.
He said the electricity tariff has increased due to the expensive tariff agreements signed by the PML-N government. The gas companies, which were in profit, had been pushed into Rs160 deficit by the PML-N government,” he added.
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