PM unaware of economic situation: Khaqan Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: A senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, said on Monday Prime Minister Imran Khan was unaware of the country’s economic situation.

Talking to media persons, the former prime minister said countries did not make progress through “lies”, adding if Pakistan was making progress, inflation would have gone down. Abbasi lamented that Prime Minister Khan was “ignorant” of the economic situation of the country. He took pride in the growth rate during his stint as premier, saying the GDP rate in 2018 was better than the GDP rate today.

The PML-N leader said the Premier credulously believed in his advisers who wrongfully fed him about the false GDP rate and false information regarding reduction in inflation.

He called upon Prime Minister Khan to ask his ministers and advisers to educate him regarding what was the GDP rate in 2018 and where did it stand today, adding the Prime Minister should know what the per capita income of a Pakistani was.

Talking about the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the PML-N leader said: “Doors of the anti-government alliance are open for anyone who wishes to accept decisions of the movement’s leadership as no alliance can function with lack of trust”.

He clarified that he never threatened to resign as secretary general of PDM but he reiterated that there was no possibility of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP) joining the alliance again.

Abbasi said neither courts nor media and executive were free in the country. “I have been waiting for three years and attending the courts but I am still not aware what the charges against me are,” he said.

The PML-N leader said countries run effectively if there was the supremacy of law and Constitution, adding the people who had looted the country were flying in charted planes and those who served the country sincerely for five years were attending court hearings.