Opposition asks PM to contact directly on charter of economy

ISLAMABAD: Members of the opposition on Saturday said Prime Minister Imran Khan should contact them directly about the committee for charter of economy.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Syed Khursheed Shah and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ayaz Sadiq met with the government’s chief whip in the National Assembly Amir Dogar and Ali Muhammad Khan during the budget meeting, Geo News reported while quoting sources.

The leaders discussed charter of economy in the meeting where the opposition said the prime minister should contact them directly regarding the charter of economy. Sources said Khursheed Shah conveyed a message through Dogar and said the government considered the opposition’s offer as a weakness and now they will speak on their own terms.

A day earlier, the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said Prime Minister Imran had agreed to the constitution of a special committee on the charter of economy to cope with economic challenges facing the country. In a series of tweets posted on his social media account, Asad Qaiser said he had a meeting with the prime minister and they discussed different legislative, political and economic issues. “Prime Minister agreed to constitute a special committee on charter of economy to cope with economic challenges. We will get the opposition onboard for this greater cause of our country. This special committee for economy will consider only current economic conditions and will propose solutions,” he tweeted.

Speaking to the media in Parliament, former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said the prime minister should clarify his position on the charter of economy. “We will speak to our own party and other opposition parties about it,” Zardari said. Khursheed Shah said, “On one side they want to speak about the economy and on the other hand they are accusing us of asking for an NRO. Now Imran Khan needs to contact us for the charter of economy.” The PPP leader continued, “Whenever we speak to them, it seems like we are asking for an NRO.”

Ayaz Sadiq said the government should not consider his party’s offer for charter of economy as its weakness. He added, the opposition is not vying for the charter of economy if the government had no interest in it. “They should take input from the business community and other stakeholders for the proposed charter of economy so a more effective economic strategy could be fromulated,” he added.