Govt has failed on all fronts, promises: PML-N

LAHORE: PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif slammed the PTI government over its “unparalleled propaganda against the PML-N” as well as a failure to prove corruption against the former ruling party, Geo News reported.

In a press conference Monday in the provincial capital, Shahbaz expressed his condolences over the death of National Party President Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, saying the late senator always stood strong with democracy and country’s Constitution. “Mir Hasil Bizenjo made innumerable sacrifices,” he added.

Shahbaz was accompanied by senior party leaders including former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail and former foreign minister Kh Asif.

Referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s administration, he said it was a government that is “worst in country’s history, incompetent, and one that neither knows governance nor concerned about the problems the public faces”. “In two years, the (rising) inflation has brought people to the brink of disaster. First, sugar was exported and the gains from depreciation in the rupee were availed. Farmers were punished and the exporters made billions of rupees”. “The price of sugar has gone above Rs100/kg. Now, sugar is being imported”.

“For the first time in country’s history, there was a shortage of wheat even before the harvest season ended. A member of the government asked on the floor of the House where the wheat had gone.

Shahbaz said oil prices were jacked up in one shocking move. “Electricity prices skyrocketed but the circular debt is still out of control,” he added. “The government’s worst incompetence has led to electricity loadshedding as well. Projects using oil should have been shut down but there was a conflict of interest,” he stated. He noted how exports did not rise despite the rupee depreciating 40%. “For the second time in country’s history, GDP growth was negative,” he mentioned, saying the first one was in 1952. “There is nothing but misery and hardship under the Tabdeeli Sarkaar!”

The PML-N president said “unparalleled propaganda was spread against” his party. “There was historic development work in Pakistan under Nawaz Sharif,” he noted. “In Pakistan’s 73-year history, there is no parallel to these projects. Those travelling on the Sukkur-Islamabad Motorway said it was a better journey than on an airplane. “During the Nawaz era, four LNG projects worth 5,000 megawatts (MW) were implemented and per unit cost doesn’t exceed Rs12 to Rs13. In Nawaz third term, no corruption took place in any of the projects. “To date, not a single penny worth of corruption has been proven,” he said, adding that PM Imran and his followers “turned upside down but no corruption was ever found”. The PML-N president said his party was not against impartial accountability. The entire country, he added, watched the spectacle of pushing the Opposition to the wall. “Despite being cornered, we extended our hand for cooperation but they rejected it,” he explained. Those in the Cabinet were not saints either and no one questioned them, he said, adding that the government had stopped giving free medicines to cancer patients in Punjab. “People are longing for the old Pakistan today because this tabdeeli (change) has not changed their lives,” he added. “Was that Pakistan better or is this Pakistan better?”

Shahbaz underlined that even before the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, the incumbent government’s “incompetence and incapability” had left millions without jobs and yet more people would soon be unemployed. “This nexus has frightened the investors,” he said. “Despite the unprecedented support this elected government has, every sector is on a downward trend”. “This is what they have done to the country. Earlier, they would accuse the prime minister of being a thief whenever electricity became expensive,” Shahbaz added. “Where are all those comments now”?

“Telling people not to worry or be concerned — ‘ghabrao nahi’ — does not get them roti (bread). They claim they will not give NRO but would that give people roti? “These people used to say earlier they would rather die than approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi spoke of how the incumbent government was “ignorant and forced to lie” to the nation. “The electricity bills for domestic consumers have been increased 30%,” Abbasi said, adding that ministers had explained earlier that power tariffs had been hiked to control the circular debt.

“In our tenure, the circular debt rose by Rs462 billion and by the time we left the government, it was Rs1,026 billion,” he noted. “Today, it is Rs2200 billion, meaning that it shot up by Rs1,200 billion in two years”! The power plants owned by the ministers run on diesel and provide costlier electricity, he added, noting that the government’s incompetence in the energy sector had caused a loss of thousands of billions of rupees.

On the other hand, former foreign minister Kh Asif spoke of the Kashmir issue, saying the massacre taking place in the Muslim-majority region was “the biggest failure of foreign policy”. “We have fought wars with India over Kashmir but they (the government) has betrayed the blood of Kashmiris,” he underlined.

PML-N leader Khurram Dastagir said the PTI government is an amalgamation of corruption and incompetence and has shaken the country till bottom. Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Monday said the economic policies introduced by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the past had adversely affected the national economy, rendering local industrial production unviable and making Pakistan an importing country.

Addressing a press conference along with Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar in response to Shahbaz Sharif’s media talk, he said the masses had rejected the opposition parties in the general elections 2018 due to their corruption and lacklustre performance. The past rulers destroyed different institutions of the country and now are sitting on opposition benches, with the sole agenda to make money by all means. Shibli said they also minted money and got kickbacks apparently from power projects and today the public is compelled to use expensive electricity due to their corrupt practices and flawed policies. The minister said the PML-N and the PPP had appointed their blue-eyed persons to various departments, which were supposed to regulate various sectors and stop money laundering.

He said the PTI government had introduced Bus Rapid Transit Project (BRT) in Peshawar that would reduce pollution, besides solving the traffic issues in the city.

It was the best ever facility given by the government in the history of Pakistan under which the people of Peshawar are getting full benefits on affordable rates. He said the launch of the Sehat Insaf Card for the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is a golden chapter in the history of the country. For the first time, the entire population of a province is going to be covered through this health insurance scheme and the credit for this landmark achievement goes to the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said that in contrast, the past governments did nothing for the welfare of the poor and the underprivileged, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has done something that was unprecedented and unheard of, he said, adding that new agreements are being inked with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that would enable the government to purchase cheap electricity from private companies for providing it to end-consumers at lower rates.

He said the past governments had failed to protect the rights of consumers by signing expensive power contracts, adding that it was not possible to undo such contracts unilaterally. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan intended to address the issue of expensive electricity on an immediate basis due to which a team was constituted which held negotiations with the IPPs to revisit the old contracts. He informed that the government is encouraging renewable energy which would ultimately help ease dependence on petroleum fuel and reduce the cost of electricity production.

Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar on Monday said the prices of wheat and sugar would come down soon after the landing of imported wheat and sugar in the country. Addressing a press briefing along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz here, he said after landing of imported wheat and sugar in the country, the hoarders who are holding huge stocks of the commodities would start releasing the stock in the open market that would help reduce the prices of wheat and sugar. He said the price of sugar is already on downward trend after the reports of sugar being imported.

The minister said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had worked hard to put the country’s economy on the right track. He said the two ruling families had looted the state money during their previous two tenures that put the economy on the verge of default. He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had committed criminal acts by dragging the country’s economy to a situation from where the recovery was nearly impossible but it is the PTI government which under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan put the economy on the path to development.

Hammad said in June 2018, Moody’s rating agency had downgraded Pakistan’s economy due to the wrong policies of the PML-N government. Now all the international credit rating agencies are forecasting the outlook of Pakistan’s economy as stable. The current account deficit of Pakistan was reduced from a huge $2 billion per month to a surplus of over $400 million in July 2020. He said the PTI government is setting right all the wrong policies of the previous government.

“We also re-negotiated the terms and conditions with the independent power producers for the betterment of power sector. During previous government, over 200 spinning mills were closed but now all the spinning mills are running on full capacity. During COVID-19, he said, a minimum dent was done to Pakistan’s economy due to prudent policies of the government. “We know that there is a reaction of every action but we are prepared for any reaction of the carters in the country,” he said, adding that the sale of Utility Stores has increased by seven times and during the current fiscal year, it would come out of operational losses.