PM says national economy in crisis: Institutional guarantees in place on economic challenges, says Fawad

ISLAMABAD/JAMRUD: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Friday said the government doesn’t face threat from anyone and it also has guarantees from the institutions.

In a TV interview, Fawad Chaudhry said former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was repeating the mantra of ‘Mujhay Kyu Nikala’ which was employed by former prime minister Nawaz Shairf when he was made accountable.

The minister made it clear that the government doesn’t care much about the opposition statements and economy is the real challenge for it. He said the government has no problem from the 18th Amendment, however, a very little part of it needs debate.

He said the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are important political parties, but the problem is that these are hijacked by leaders to save their corruption.

Meanwhile, reacting to the threat of Asif Zardari to launch a movement to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he could not be blackmailed into giving an NRO-like deal to those who had looted the country’s wealth.

Wearing a traditional tribal turban, he addressed a well-attended public gathering in Jamrud tehsil in Khyber tribal district. Imran Khan said the government was not going anywhere but Asif Zardari wasgoing to land in jail. The prime minister criticised his political opponents for making efforts to hide their corruption and incompetence.

The premier said Pakistan was going through a difficult economic condition, but it would be over soon. He added that Pakistan’s total debt was Rs6,000 billion during the PPP’s tenure and it jacked up to Rs30,000 billion during the government of the PML-N. Imran Khan challenged the PPP co-chairman to hold a sit-in in Islamabad for a week, saying the government would provide containers and food to protesters. He claimed the PPP leaders would not be able to spend more than a week in the container.

The premier said that people like Asif Ali Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman cannot topple the government by staging protest sit-ins and million marches. “The government is not going anywhere, but you will soon land in jail,” he said in a reference to Asif Ali Zardari.

He maintained that Asif Zardari and his son PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari could not become leaders as they had no political struggle to their credit, but a forged will. The PM said that PPP gave Rs200 to each person for attending the train march.

Turing to the JUI-F head Maulana Fazlur Rehman who he termed the 12th man, Imran Khan said the Maulana could not even hold a small rally against the government let alone staging a million march. He said that a person who could not even win his seat in the last general election was like a kid who fielded all the day but was bowled out on the very first ball when he came to bat.

Imran Khan also criticised Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, the sons of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, for avoiding facing corruption inquiries by arguing that they were foreign nationals despite the fact that their father ruled the country for years. He said Nawaz Sharif’s son lives in a house worth Rs6 billion and says he is a UK citizen when asked about the source of money. He said the billionaire sons of Ishaq Dar also live abroad. The prime minister said the PML-N leadership was involved in money laundering. He reiterated his resolve not to extend an NRO-like deal to the corrupt politicians, saying they were pressuring the government to get an NRO. He said the only way for them is return of the money.

Imran Khan on the occasion announced a 10-year special development package for tribal districts. He said Rs100 billion would be spent on the development of merged districts each year. He said health, education and sports facilities would be made available in the merged districts.

Imran Khan said the national economy was in crisis due to corruption and wrong policies of the previous two governments and it enhanced the national debt from Rs6,000 billion to Rs30,000 billion. The prime minister said about half of the revenue being collected through taxes was spent on payment of interest on foreign loans.

He announced that Pak-Afghan border at Torkham would remain open 24 hours to promote trade and business. He said economic corridor would be established to provide maximum job opportunities to the tribal youth. The prime minister said the process of merger was difficult but the government was committed to completing it. Referring to the Afghan imbroglio, Imran Khan said Pakistan wanted restoration of peace and stability in the war-ravaged country. The prime minister clarified that he recently proposed setting up an interim government in Afghanistan before the election but this was misunderstood. He clarified that this was just a suggestion and not interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.