PTI demands accountability for ‘damaging’ economy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and former federal minister Hammad Azhar demanded accountability of the government economic team including the finance minister Ishaq Dar for the alleged destruction of the economy and the depreciation of the rupee to a record low.

He called the rulers a gang of criminals and charged that ‘Darnomics’ turned the rupee practically useless, adding that even though the rupee devalued at a record level, reaching Rs 308 against the dollar, there was no sign of shame in the government ranks. In a statement issued on Monday, he said that the puppets focused all attention on ‘promoting’ lawlessness in the country and crushing PTI.

He alleged that the shameful combination of brutality and incompetence brought the country’s economy to the point of no return. Hammad Azhar went on to say that the gang of criminals failed to reach any viable deal with IMF during the last nine months, adding that the ‘imported government’ and the finance minister were yet to tell the nation about the status of the IMF programme. He raised a question as to what was the alternative plan for the government to avoid the looming default. Hammad said that the nation wanted an answer to this important question from this gang of thieves.

He claimed that the imported government closed all the welfare schemes including health cards and preparation was underway to pour in all the money into the election campaign of the failed political group. He said that the preparation of the budget by these criminals would be a ‘recipe of formal murder of the economy’, advising that the state should worry about saving the economy from these criminals.

The imported government, he alleged, plunged the country neck-deep in crisis, as the economic recession in the country was getting worse.

The PTI leader said that the economic recession in Pakistan was getting worse, as the GDP contraction was happening at a much faster pace than was expected. He said that the numbers were shaping up an uglier picture than what many analysts had predicted earlier because the current regime had no plan and policy to get the country out of the prevailing economic quagmire. He suggested that the only way out of the political chaos, internal instability and economic meltdown was to hold free, fair and transparent elections without any further delay.

Meanwhile, PTI Information Secretary Farrukh Habib regretted PTI SVP Dr Shireen Mazari had been arrested for the fourth time after release. “Punjab Police has re-arrested Dr Shireen Mazari from outside Adiala Jail Rawalpindi. PDM government is so scared of PhD Dr Shireen Mazari,” he charged. The law of the jungle, he alleged, was enforced everywhere and at present, no court order is being accepted in the country.

Separately, PTI Additional Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan notified Mubeen Jatoi as General Secretary PTI Sindh. Mubeen Jatoi was the authorized representative for the issuance of priority lists from the platform of PTI in accordance with the decisions of the Parliamentary Board. Moreover, he would also ensure the submission of priority lists to the Provincial Election Commissioner of Sindh and relevant Returning Officers by or before the scheduled date.