‘Inflation, unemployment’ biggest threat to country

Shehbaz says long march to be decided on Dec 6

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would decide about the details regarding long march in the December 6 meeting, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif said, rejecting the notion of a rift between opposition parties.

He cited a soaring inflation and unemployment as two major issues, threatening the very existence of Pakistan.

“The claims of the PTI government that it is governing in an honest and transparent manner is the biggest lie in the country’s history,” said the PML-N president who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly while addressing a news conference.

Shehbaz said the PTI government was the most incompetent, corrupt, laid-back and inexperienced government in Pakistan has ever witnessed.

“The entire nation is suffering miserably because a selected, illegal government was formed as a result of rigged elections.”

The PML-N president also strongly condemned the Sialkot lynching incident. “The PTI exploited religious issues for political gains.”

He said Pakistan enjoyed good diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka and hoped that the culprits of the horrific incident would be punished according to law.

He said countries that repeat blunders lose their sovereignty and when they face economic disasters, it is virtually impossible to save them.

He warned that if Pakistan did not address the economic crisis it currently faced, it could jeopardise the country.

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Shehbaz said the economic blunders committed by the PTI government over the past three years had shaken the very foundations of Pakistan. “Inflation and unemployment are two major issues, threatening the very existence of Pakistan.”

He said that Covid-19 started in March 2020 and there was no doubt that the entire world was facing an increase in inflation, but Pakistan was right now ranked third in the world and first in South Asia as the country with the highest inflation rate.

Pakistan and Pakistanis were facing the most devastating economic condition in the history of the country, he added.

He said the joint opposition warned repeatedly that the government should focus on the situation of the average Pakistani instead of rich corporations amid these troubled times, but they completely ignored it.

He said it was extremely difficult to discuss crucial issues with the PTI government because they resorted to foul language and cussing if one would disagree with them.

He reminded that when the PML-N left the government in 2018, the amount of total loans taken were Rs3,000 billion while inflation was 3-4 percent.

“Right now,” he said, “the conditions by the IMF have choked the entire nation.”

Shehbaz said he was not looking to lecture anyone and admitted that all governments were guilty of playing their part in the economic deterioration of the country over the past 74 years.

However, he said if the PTI government was compared with Nawaz Sharif’s government, there was a start difference.

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“Nawaz left the country with a 5.8 GDP growth, while the PT after three years has managed a mere 3.5 per cent growth.” He said the population growth alone was 2.5 per cent which meant that the 3.5 per cent GDP growth was barely enough to even meet the population growth percentage.

He said Imran had pledged from the top of the container that he would reduce the national debt by Rs10,000 billion. However, in three years the PTI government had almost doubled the national debt accumulated over the past 71 years.

He pointed out that in 2018, the total debt was around Rs30,000 billion, but the PTI added Rs20,000 billion to this debt.

He said the record bears witness that during its tenure from 2013 to 2018, the PML-N not only reduced total debt by returning loans, but also invested in the development and progress of the nation.

Shehbaz asked where was that the Loan Commission that was formed in the middle of night as if there was some sort of emergency, security agencies, like the ISI, the FIA and the IB were all included in that commission but its report is still pending.