Imran can’t justify his ‘tenure of destruction’ with white paper: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan could not justify “his tenure of destruction”, including corruption and incompetency by simply issuing a white paper.

“Whether he issues white, red or yellow paper, nothing can help Imran Khan cover up his corruption and incompetency, besides the violation of the Constitution he committed during his government’s tenure,” the minister said in a statement while reacting to the PTI chief’s remarks.

She said it was the ruling alliance which had made concerted efforts to steer the country out of economic crises created by the previous government.

“How can Imran Khan, who himself plunged the country into an economic quagmire which ushered in sheer poverty, extreme inflation and massive unemployment, question the performance of a government which came into power just one year ago?” the minister wondered.

She said a person who brought the country to the brink of default issued a white paper which ironically had no mention of circular debt in the power sector, which jumped to Rs2,400 billion from Rs1,100 billion during his own government’s tenure.

There was also no mention of circular debt in the energy sector, which soared to Rs1,400 billion during the PTI’s government tenure, she added.

Marriyum said Imran had not also dared to mention the wrong policies of his government which resulted into a whopping increase in the prices of wheat and sugar that went up to Rs100 from Rs35 per kg and Rs120 from Rs52 per kg respectively.

She said he also forgot to highlight the increase in the prices of electricity and gas, which were raised to Rs25 from Rs11 per unit and from Rs600 to Rs1,400 per MMBTU respectively.

The minister said the PTI government had taken record loans of Rs20,000 billion, which was also not mentioned in the white paper. It was the coalition government that had repaid $11 billion debt in one year.

No mention of the budget deficit was also found in the white paper which was nothing but a pack of lies, she remarked.

Marriyum said that the former prime minister had angered almost every friendly country by pursuing wrong policies during his four-year rule.

There was no mention of the policies which rendered six million people jobless and pushed 20 million below the poverty line.

She said Imran made Pakistan the third most expensive country in the world and he should be ashamed for issuing a white paper on the one-year performance of the government.

Terrorism was resurrected due to the wrong policies of Imran government which was marred by corruption with direct involvement of his wife Bushra Bibi and her friend Farah Gogi, she said, adding that in the white paper, he (Imran) should have published pictures of an expensive wristwatch which he stole from Toshakhana and the five karat diamond ring, which was demanded by her wife from a businessman.

In the white paper, there was no mention of the IMF agreement which was violated by Imran Khan to bring the country at the brink of default as part of a conspiracy hatched by him against the country, she stressed.

She said inflation went up to 25 percent from 4 percent and growth reduced to -0.4 percent during the tenure of Imran’s government, but he still had the audacity to issue a white paper which did not point out the massive embezzlement of Rs1,200 billion in the Covid-19 funds.

Neither he highlighted his foreign funding in the white paper nor there was any mention of Tyrian, whom he had denied fatherhood, she noted.

Marriyum said Imran had not also dared to explain in the white paper that how he had unleashed violence against the journalist community. He was also declared “predator” for journalism by the international organisation.

Imran had also not mentioned about the loot of 190 million British pounds which was committed during his government’s tenure, she added.