Fear my wrath when no-trust fails: PM

Premier also expresses displeasure over EU envoys telling Pakistan to slam Russia over Ukraine invasion

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday warned the opposition parties that they would face the consequences if their no-trust motion against his government failed.

“Are you ready for what I will do with you once your plans for a no-trust motion fail?" he said while addressing a public gathering in Vehari district's Mailsi tehsil.

The premier did not hesitate to lambaste the envoys of the European Union over their letter in which they demanded that Pakistan should condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine and vote against Moscow at the UN.

“Their [EU envoys] double standards are evident on the Kashmir issue.” The premier maintained that the opposition leaders wanted to oust him so that they could continue looting the country without ever being held accountable for their corrupt practices.

On the no-confidence motion, PM Imran asked the people who were supporting it, PML-N activists in particular: “Can a jackal become a leader,” referring to former premier Nawaz Sharif.

Calling Nawaz a “criminal number 1”, the premier asked PML-N activists had they ever heard of a leader who ran away with his “tail between his legs”

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The premier said there were good people in PML-N and he wanted to ask them to search on Google if there was any such example where the children of a three-time prime minister were living in a palace worth billions of rupees in London but when were asked about their sources of income, they replied that they were not Pakistani citizens and hence not answerable.

The premier further said the best way to learn about Nawaz’s brother Shehbaz Sharif – the PML-N president and the opposition leader in the National Assembly –was to ask a peon, whose account was allegedly used by the Sharif family to launder money.

“The Sharif family has learnt the technique of playing on both sides of the wicket as the absconder [Nawaz] and his daughter [Maryam Nawaz] say bad things about the army but Shehbaz never misses any opportunity to polish boots that come his way.

He added that Shehbaz was in a hurry to table a no-trust motion because he knew he would be behind bars if his case was taken up before that.

The prime minister described former president and PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari as a “disease”.
He alleged that Zardari became famous as “Mr 10%” in no time because he used to take 10% commission from everyone on everything.

Calling the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who also heads the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), as “Fazlu Diesel”, the premier said he would not call him Maulana as the title was used for an educated and credible person.

“It shouldn’t be used for a man, who makes money by selling diesel permits.”  “When thieves like these [four leaders] continue ruling one after the other and try to oust the one who holds them accountable, then the media should educate people about the difference between good and bad,” the premier maintained.

In his speech, PM Imran lashed out at the EU envoys over their letter, asking if the bloc had written anything to India on the Kashmir issue. Reminding the nation that Pakistan’s former rulers had participated in the US’ war on terror, the premier maintained that he would have never allowed the country to become a part of it had he been in power back then.

 “What did Pakistan get in response? [Around] 80,000 people lost their lives,” the premier noted, adding that millions were forced to migrate from the tribal areas and the country bore a loss of over Rs100 billion.

The premier asked had the EU envoys “appreciated” Pakistan for giving them support in Afghanistan.
He added that NATO’s loss of lives was less than 10% of the total casualties that Pakistan had suffered, lamenting that many of the envoys had blamed Islamabad instead of thanking it after they lost the war in Afghanistan.

“When India broke international law in Kashmir and abrogated its autonomous status, did anyone of you [envoys] break ties with India, end trade or criticise it?” PM Imran said. “What are we; are we your slaves and will do whatever you tell us to do?”

The premier regretted that never in the history had it happened that Pakistan was frequently attacked via US drone attacks despite the country supporting its war in Afghanistan. The prime minister then took credit for not allowing a single drone attack taking place in the country since he had assumed office.

“I will ask the Pakistan Air Force to shoot down any drone if it comes to attack because it is against international law and no one has the right to act like judge, jury and executioner.” The premier reiterated that Pakistan was neutral and not in any camp, adding that it had a good relationship with the US, Russia, China and Europe at the same time. He said Pakistan would try to collaborate with these powers to bring an end to the war in Ukraine as it has led to sky-rocketing inflation across the globe.

“We will not support anyone in war but support everyone in peace.” At the outset of his speech, PM Imran announced bringing a constitutional amendment bill in the National Assembly soon to make southern Punjab a separate province.

In addition, the premier also said the federal government had decided to spend an additional Rs500 billion in southern Punjab. Admitting about the runaway inflation and shortage of urea, PM Imran, while reading figures from the papers, told the people of Mailsi that farmers received an additional income on different commodities during the PTI’s tenure; a statement that surprisingly did not elicit a huge applause from the participants of rally.

 As opposed to federal cabinet’s earlier claims that there was no dearth of urea in Pakistan, the premier announced that 100,000 tons of the chemical were being imported from China and would reach Pakistan in a week.

The premier maintained that the government was giving a subsidy on urea to the tune of Rs132 billion. He added that the product was being provided to farmers at a price that was five times lower when compared with global prices.

He said the people did not have any idea about the difficulties that the PTI government had faced. “The government received a ‘bankrupt country’ left by a ‘bunch of thieves’,” the PM said in a tacit reference to the PPP and PML-N governments. “This was followed by the Covid-19 outbreak, f and later a flood of inflation across the globe.”

The premier reiterated that inflation had even hit the most powerful economies of the world and Pakistan was no exception. Referring to the record tax collection, the premier said he had slashed petrol and diesel prices by Rs10 each and electricity price by Rs5 per unit. He promised that he would spend more money collected through taxes on reducing the burden from the people.

“The day I bring back the money from the fugitive [Nawaz] sitting in London, I promise you that I will half the prices of petrol and diesel.”