PML-N asks govt to cut wasteful expenditures

PML-N says if wasteful expenditures are not cut whatever is collected will fall into the hands of the corrupt mafia.

ISLAMABAD: Reiterating its opposition to the Reformed GST and the Flood Tax, the PML-N has said that the government should cut down on its own wasteful expenditures first. Otherwise, whatever is collected will fall into the hands of the corrupt mafia.

The PML-N’s information secretary Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said that “unprecedented corruption and price hikes have become the peoples’ top concerns. The last two-and-a-half years have increased the peoples’ suffering and the Zardari regime has failed to take any meaningful steps towards curbing corruption and arresting the inflationary trends”.

Talking about the proposed accountability bill on which the two parties have failed to bridge their differences, Iqbal alleged that the government was creating hurdles in establishing a transparent accountability system by refusing to agree to the establishment of a truly independent accountability body.

He said the Supreme Court’s judgments were being flouted in corruption cases. The government’s strategy of increasing electricity tariffs without plugging leakages and the wilful plunder of state-owned enterprises – to the tune of over Rs300 billion through its cronies – had placed an unbearable burden on the economy, he said, adding that the tales of corruption scandals circulating both at home and abroad had shaken investors’ confidence.

He said that General Musharraf’s assertions against Nawaz Sharif carried no value because he could not get Sharif convicted on corruption charges despite enjoying undiluted powers for eight years and spending billions of rupees on NAB in attempts to do so.

“Musharaf is attacking Sharif and the PML-N because he fears accountability at their hands while he remains quite reticent about Zardari because there is an understanding between the two. Musharraf has to face charges of treason and crimes against people, including assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti and students in Lal Masjid.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2010.