Delay in early elections will aggravate economic crisis: Hammad

Former energy minister holds political instability responsible for inflation, rupee devaluation in the country

Former energy minister Hammad Azhar has said that political instability triggered by the vote of no-confidence that toppled the PTI-led government earlier this year was responsible for the prevailing economic crisis.

“Leader [Shehbaz Sharif] of minority party became prime minister of the country…comedy show is going on... if this was a private company they would have been fired long ago,” Hammad said while addressing a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday.

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Responding to a question, the senior PTI leader denied the reports that they are holding backchannel talks with any stakeholder, saying that early general elections are the only solution to steer the country out of the crisis.

“If the government wants the situation to improve then they should call snap polls.... If [early] elections are not held on time, the situation will get worse, he added.

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The ex-minister also said that “experienced rulers” have completely failed to control the situation as the rupee plummeted to an all-time low against the US dollar.

“These people are praying for rains so that power load-shedding will be reduced,” he remarked.

He was of the view that if his party was in power, the economic situation would not have been so bad today.

“We reduced the prices of electricity and fuel... we left the GDP growth at 6 per cent and will take it to between 7 and 8 per cent in the next fiscal year,” Hammad added.