Opposition has backing from ‘outside’, says PM

Imran vows by-polls if opposition resigns; admits not approaching IMF early was a mistake

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday accused the opposition of trying to create chaos in the country, saying that some elements from the outside are in cahoots with them as they both have the same agenda.

Talking to senior journalists in Islamabad, the prime minister dilated upon his strategy to deal with the opposition’s anti-government movement, the prevailing coronavirus situation, as well as his “big mistakes” after coming to power nearly 22 months ago.

In his candid talks, Premier Imran revealed his government’s strategy in case the opposition resigned from the assemblies, en masse. “It is the right of the opposition to resign. [But] if the opposition resigns, the government will hold by-elections on the vacated seats,” the prime minster told journalists.

When asked that the opposition appeared confident in its campaign, Imran downplayed the notion with a smile. “My confidence is increasing too,” he said. “One of the reasons for the opposition’s confidence is that some elements from the outside, who want to destabilise Pakistan, have joined them,” he said.

Regarding the upcoming public meeting of the 11-party opposition alliance – the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – in Lahore, Imran said the government would neither allow nor stop the opposition. “The opposition wants to instigate chaos. They want the government to use force but we would not use force against them.”

He said that the opposition only wanted the abolition of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). “If I do this today, all these movements will end. But I will not do that at all,” he said. “Those who are part of the status quo will not want the status quo broken.”

The prime minister was critical of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for issuing a political amnesty through the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2007. He said Gen Musharraf had betrayed the country by inviting former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Zardari.

He also said that the government was willing and ready to talk to the opposition only if the NRO and corruption cases were off the table. “I will not give NRO. It will be treason against the country,” he said. “Apart from the NRO and corruption [cases], the government is ready to talk to the opposition.”

Imran sounded caution on the rising cases of coronavirus cases. “Coronavirus is growing fast. Everyone should ponder over it,” he said. “Coronavirus virus is delaying local elections in the country. However, in any case, we will hold local elections in April next year,” he added.

 

‘Big mistake’

In his media talks, the prime minister candidly admitted the mistakes his government made immediately after coming to power in August 2018. However, he stressed that he took several measures to steer the country out of its difficulties.

The big mistake that “we made after coming to power”, he said, was not going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. “We should have gone to the IMF immediately, but we didn’t. It was a mistake,” he said.

“We should have made immediate reforms in the public sector, including the power sector, the PIA [Pakistan International Airlines], and the [Pakistan] Steel Mills. We were late and lack of immediate reforms hurt the country,” the prime minister added.

When asked what his take was on the rising internal deficit and foreign debt, which was piling due to deferment of the IMF instalments, he said that the IMF wanted Pakistan to increase power tariff in order to bring down the circular debt. However, he added, Pakistan was resisting the proposal.

“I did not even know that the former regimes had dumped the circular debt to the side. I only learnt about it when I entered the office,” he said. “The economic statistics in the first one-and-a-half years were very dismal,” he added.

Referring to the austerity drive of the Prime Minister House, Imran said it was unfortunate that leaders in the past did not care about the country’s debt. He stressed that his official visits were much economical than the visits of the former leaders.

“Zardari, Sharif used to spend millions of dollars on the tours,” Imran said. But now, he added, the expenses of the Prime Minister House and the camp offices had been reduced by 70%. Similarly, the monthly expenditure was also now under Rs100 million.

When asked to comment on a court decision on non-elected people in the cabinet, the prime minister said that the government would certainly abide by the orders of the high court and find a way in due course.

He also hinted that he was thinking about changes in the cabinet. “After five years, the people will actually ask how much life has changed and not how many people were transferred,” the prime minister told the journalists.

The PM said that there was “no pressure on me” to recognise Israel. “Everyone can understand that I cannot be put under pressure. This is democracy, there can be no such pressure,” he said.

To yet another question about to deportation of Pakistanis and Indian army chief’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Imran said that countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE had economic interests in India, but that did not mean that there were any differences with Pakistan.

Information Minister Shibli Faraz and Special Assistant Shahbaz Gill were also present in the meeting.