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Thursday March 28, 2024

Imran contradicting himself: Marriyum

By Our Correspondent
October 08, 2018

LAHORE: PML-N central spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, in response to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s press conference, has said Imran fondly speaks of his war on corruption while guarding like a custodian the established symbols of corruption he appointed to government offices.

In a statement, she stated that the prime minister who talked about crackdown on corruption, very conveniently ignored hundreds of millions of laundered money funneled in PTI officials’ accounts through Hundi four years ago and the PTI had filed five petitions in the Islamabad High Court to keep it under wraps. “The government cannot hide its failing 100-day plan behind these cosmetic diversions of blame-game and illegal arrests of the opposition leadership”, said Marriyum. Either fulfil your promise of bringing back those fictional 300 billion dollars of Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan, or tender apologies to the people of Pakistan for lying to them repeatedly, she stressed.

She raised questions regarding decisions taken in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PM needs to explain the rationale of Rs 45 billion loan taken by the PTI KP government and where was it spent? Why was the electricity theft of Rs 65 billion in KP? How did the price of Peshawar Metro reach RS 80 billion? Did the Rs 6 billion of Accountability Commission vanish? Why did the PTI government allow 48 per cent dent in Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (PESCO) bill collection and a loss of Rs 60 billion during 2017? Why was the KP government in Rs 55 billion debt in 2017-2018? The prime minister needed to clear all these massive dents to the national economy inflicted by the PTI government, she maintained.

She pointed out that the PTI had repeatedly bashed the nominal increase in gas and electricity prices in the parliament and in their rallies during the PML-N government and promised to bring down the price of these utilities.

She said the government instead of providing a “Better Pakistan” snatched the right of people to live on. The PM mentioned encouraging whistleblowers while when whistleblowers like Justice (Retd) Wajih, General (Retd) Hamid Khan and Akbar Babar revealed the corruption in PTI ranks, they were not only silenced but were made an example for all else to keep their tongues tied.

The apparently anti-corruption PM needed to tell the nation how did his sisters buy Rs 60 billion worth of property in Dubai while they did not have any source of income other than being member of the board of a not-for-profit welfare organization. When will the worthy prime minister start investigating this matter? she questioned. “The PM needs to tell the nation when will the offshore properties of Zulfi Bukhari, Aleem Khan and Jahangir Tareen would be auctioned?”

She questioned the different standards of appointing chief ministers by saying that Imran said that he appointed Mr Buzdar because he was a poor man, who would understand the problems of the underprivileged. However, if this is the rationale for appointing chief ministers, why did the PTI appoint a “Nawab” as the chief minister of Balochistan instead of a poor and humble man who understanding the poor plight of the poor people of Balochistan.

Commenting further on PM’s explanation regarding the CM Punjab, she said that CMs were appointed on the basis of competence and Usman Buzdar’s competence could be measured by the fact that the PM had to chair every cabinet meeting himself as the CM does not have the capacity and ability to do so. The prime minister needed to stop whining and start fulfilling his promises because this empty rhetoric of false criticism may work from the top of a container but would not help run a county of 220 million people.