Coalition warns Imran against crossing red lines

ISLAMABAD: The ruling coalition partners Wednesday said nobody would be allowed to attack the federal capital and warned PTI Chairman Imran Khan against crossing the constitutional red lines.

The warning came during a meeting of the coalition partners at the Prime Minister’s House with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair. The govt allies also warned that the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments should not become a tool in the hands of Imran Khan to pave way for any kind of Fasad. “Those crossing the constitutional limits will have to face the law,” the meeting maintained.

Expressing satisfaction over the federal cabinet’s decision on investigation into the audio leaks and cipher, the leaders of coalition parties also condemned the statements against the national institutions.

A declaration issued by the Prime Minister’s House after the meeting said the coalition leaders also pledged that anybody crossing the red lines of the Constitution would be stopped with the power of 220 million people and the Constitution.

It maintained that a person who tried to deviate from the path of Constitution was none but a traitor, conspirator and Fasadi as he wanted to push the country towards a serious crisis. “To rein in such a person legally is also a constitutional requirement,” the meeting observed.

The coalition parties demanded that the FIA should complete investigations into the criminal act of targeting the national interests so that the legal requirements of taking action against the conspirator could be completed in the wake of audio leaks about the cipher.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Senator Ishaq Dar apprised the meeting of the talks with the IMF and other financial institutions and the steps taken for economic revival. He said during the PTI government’s four years of disastrous economic policies, the national economy did not witness any positive indicator.

“The previous government took loans of debt of Rs20,000 billion pushing the country to the verge of default,” he added. He said the rupee gained against the US dollar last Monday and expressed the hope that dollar would trade below Rs200 soon.

Sharing further details, he said during their previous rule, inflation was recorded at 3 percent whereas the growth rate was hovering around 6.3 percent. The meeting expressed satisfaction over the measures taken by Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar and decided that electricity tariffs would be brought down.

The meeting pointed out that an additional burden of Rs20,000 billion was added to the country’s debt burden and said the country was pushed into an economic crisis in less than four years. It said dollar would be brought down to Rs200.

The meeting also appreciated the measures taken to provide relief to the flood victims and also lauded the role of armed forces in this regard.