PM should resign to secure a respectable exit, says Iqbal

Laments only 20% of healthcare workers have been provided with virus cover

LAHORE:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday fired a broadside at Prime Minister Imran Khan saying the most dignified way for him to quit the government was to “voluntarily tender his resignation”.

He asked the Supreme Court to hold both PM Imran and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in contempt of court for not restoring local bodies despite its orders.

The PML-N leader maintained that the PTI-led government had “flagrantly flouted” court orders and such level of disregard to the apex court directives was not witnessed before.

“Government has treated the Supreme Court order as an order of some section officer. This is a revolt against the court,” he said.

“The most respectable way for Imran Khan to leave is to voluntarily resign otherwise he should be prepared to face the wrath of public,” he added.

Censuring the government over the rise in coronavirus cases, Iqbal said the third wave of Covid-19 was wreaking havoc in the country, and thus far only 20% of the healthcare workers had been provided with the virus cover.

He said the government had “failed” to guard the frontline workers and instead of planning a timely procurement it was hoping to receive the virus jabs in “charity from wealthy nations”.

“The little cover government is able to provide to its people is owing to China that has donated a million doses of vaccine. Even now, we are waiting for a donation of 15 million vaccines from the European Union,” he noted.

“If it was the PML-N’s government, we would have vaccinated at least 20 million people by now,” he added.

Iqbal said the government had money to spend on “extravagance, feed a large cabinet and buy helicopters” but it did not have funds for the poor.

He said the price of essential commodities had gone through the roof and people living in major cities like Lahore were made to stand in long queues for sugar.

While referring to the PML-N, he said, “The government, PTI used to call corrupt and dacoit, was ensuring the price of sugar at Rs52 to 54 but the ‘honest bunch’ has raised the prices to accommodate their ATMs.”

He alleged that the current government lacked policy and economic vision and added that it only focused on criticizing their opponents.

Iqbal said people who had voted for the PTI in “ignorance” by now would have “opened their eyes”.

The PML-N leader observed that the only solution to the prevailing problems was fresh elections.