‘It’s easy to defend brand Imran Khan’, PM tells spokespersons

Directs party leaders to spread the word about likely decrease in inflation; reassure jitters about higher costs

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday asked the party leaders and spokespersons to beat back the mounting “fake narrative” perpetuated by the opposition parties, saying defending him against the “venal politicians” was not a difficult task.

The prime minister said this while presiding over a meeting of the spokespersons, which was attended by the PTI leaders and cabinet members.

During the meeting, PM Imran drew a comparison between him and the former rulers and directed them to counter the “corrupt rulers” on a range of government’s policies and performances.

“On the one hand, you have internationally-recognized thieves,” the premier observed while referring to former premier Nawaz Sharif and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, “and on the other hand, you have Imran Khan, defending whom is not difficult at all.”

“Your brand is the PM and unlike their rules, I am neither corrupt nor thief,” a participant of the meeting quoted PM Imran as saying.

Citing Ron Suskind’s book ‘The Way of the World’ and BBC documentaries highlighting the corruption of his predecessors, the prime minister pointed out that although the allegations were never contradicted, “the opposition had the audacity to protect thieves, robbers and corrupt leaders”.

“Don't let the opposition dominate in any way; show them the mirror,” PM Imran was quoted by a party leader as saying.

Among other things, PM Imran directed the party members to strongly counter the opposition’s narrative against the supplementary finance bill – a mini-budget of Rs375 billion – which was recently introduced in the National Assembly. Out of the total, the premier said, taxes amounting to only Rs2 billion were being presented out of proportion.

‘Inflation to fade soon’

During the meeting, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin gave a presentation on the finance bill, economic indicators and inflation. The minister informed the meeting that the agriculture, information technology and exports were at the highest level, adding that inflation was expected to fade in the next month or two.

Read Taxing time: A closer look at the finance bill

Asked to specify the details about the decrease in the inflation numbers, a party leader said the participants did not inquire further about it. He, however, said the inflation will definitely start declining from next month.

He said the premier asked the participants to spread the word that inflation would start going down from next month or so.

Senator Faisal Javed while talking to The Express Tribune said that the premier was satisfied with the finance minister’s presentation and directed the party leaders to highlight the party’s performance of the previous year.

The senator said that the premier asked the party leaders to highlight the government’s success on remittances, exports and the benefits that the farmers got last year, adding that the government’s performance in tackling the Covid-19 outbreak and vaccination must also be highlighted.

In addition, Javed said, the premier told the members to highlight the government’s achievements on climate change issues and on providing the facility of health cards.

“We have so much to showcase in terms of growing remittances, exports, the benefits that the farmers got,” Javed quoted PM as saying, “tell people about government’s globally recognized performance on Covid-19 and climate change issue.”

In the meeting, the premier emphasized that the documented economy was the need of the hour and in the national interest. The meeting summoned to discuss the overall economic and