Siraj slams rulers for economic crisis

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Siraj-ul-Haq said that the root cause of economic collapse is that previous governments, instead of making the economy self-sufficient, relied on heavy foreign debts and lived luxurious lifestyles on public money, consequently they handed over the country to the IMF.

Addressing a meeting of office-bearers of Jamiat Ittehadul Ulema at Mansoorah on Thursday, Siraj expressed concerns that government is enacting laws to sell the national institutions to foreigners, under which there will be no questioning of buyers and sellers, hence no accountability. He warned that some lobby first fails the national institutions and then launches campaign to sell them to foreign buyers for the sake of kickbacks. He said PDM government within three months raised prices of petrol by Rs90 per litre, electricity by Rs 18 per unit, while gas and food items increased twice, pushing every citizen under back-breaking inflation, loadshedding and unemployment.

The ruling class was indifferent to the problems of the people who were left at the mercy of the circumstances. He said performance of every institution depends on improving of the governance, the country was devastated due to corruption and mismanagement. The ruling elite and bureaucrats lived like the Mughal emperors with free petrol, electricity and acres of land and are not ready to reduce their privileges in any way.

The governor's house in each province is spread over hundreds of kanals, if these palaces are also given on rent in the market, 14 to 15 billion rupees will go to the national treasury annually, which can at least make education of poor children and healthcare possible.