Despite Support, Selected PTI Govt Devastated Every Sector, Jeopardized Nation’s Future, Angered Most Trusted Allies Over Past 2 Years – Shehbaz
ISLAMABAD: PMLN President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif while presenting a White Paper on the disastrous 2-year rule of PTI has said that despite vehement support from all quarters, the selected government has devastated every sector, impoverished Pakistanis, jeopardized the nation’s future and angered Pakistan’s most trusted international allies.
Addressing a press conference along with former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Asif, Khurran Dastgir Khan, Miftah Ismail, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Marriyum Aurangzeb and others, Shehbaz said it is an irrefutable fact that Pakistan is extremely worse off after two years of the Imran-led government. He pointed out that the government’s borrowings during its first two years were more than the three tenures of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif combined.
He highlighted the degradation of healthcare sector and told how PTI not only stopped free medicine, diagnostic tests and life-saving drugs at hospitals but also increased prices of medicines.
Listing the foreign policy blunders, the PMLN President pointed out how PTI started demonizing CPEC from its day-1, and from that point onward angered or disappointed every ally from Malaysia, Iran, Turkey to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Shehbaz said that his party is all for accountability but ‘witch-hunting’ in the name of accountability is not acceptable, alleging that connivance of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the government is only targeting the opposition leaders.
“People have had enough of Naya Pakistan,” he added.
The opposition leader also said that corruption not even worth a penny has been proven against him of any leader of his party. “Whether it be LNG projects, or CPEC or any other project, despite the propagation against us, they haven’t been able prove any corruption in any project.”
He said that sugar was available for Rs 52 per kg during the PML-N’s government but the price has skyrocketed to Rs 100 per kg where manufacturers and exporters made billions of rupees at the expense of farmers. And later billions were made over import of the same, he said.
Shehbaz slammed PTI government for lying about cost of production of electricity installed by PMLN and said PTI intentionally ignored the gas-powered plants that produce electricity at Rs 13 per unit and opted to run furnace-oil power plants that produce expensive electricity only to financially benefit its blue-eyed.
He said that many areas have been facing power outages in the country despite having a surplus production which merely portrays the incompetence of the government.
“Rupee devalued 40% during the tenure of the present government. Despite that, there is no significance increase in our exports. This is only the second time in the history of Pakistan that our GDP growth is in negative. Last time that happened was in 1952. Our GDP growth was recorded at -0.4 per cent.”, he said.
He went on to say that the government cannot hide behind the Covid-19 pandemic as millions had already lost their jobs before it.
Khawaja Asif highlighted how PTI’s biggest blunder was its diplomatic failure that led to the annexation of Indian occupied Kashmir. He told how PTI has had the most impotent and ineffective foreign policy response which has only emboldened Indian oppression in IOJK. He said the irresponsible statements regarding CPEC soured relations with China; commitment and then refusal to participate in KL summit annoyed Turkey and Malaysia and irresponsible statements about Saudi Arabia angered long standing relations with KSA, UAE the Arab League and the OIC.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said despite a 30-50 percent increase in tariffs the government has added over 12 hundred billion rupees in circular debt in electricity over the past two years alone which makes in Rs 1.2 billion daily. He mentioned how the profit-making SNGPL and SSGPL have dived into debt and the circulate debt is now mounting in Gas sector despite a 140 percent increase in tariffs. He pointed out how PTI missed the train of buying economical gas in the international market which has made matters even worse.
Miftah Ismail explained how Imran Khan and the PTI defiled and painted a tarnished picture of Pakistan’s actually growing economy only to demonize PMLN which resulted in international investors and institutions pulling away from Pakistan. This he said led to PTI negotiating the worst terms and interest rates in the country’s history which has put Pakistan on a virtually irredeemable debt-train. He told how port earnings, exports, tax revenues and every major and minor economic indicator plummeted under PTI despite a historic 40 percent devaluation of currency. He pointed out how the Imran-led government is continuously fudging numbers and changing criteria for measuring economic indicators only to misguide the nation while the country slips deeper and deeper into recession.
Khurran Dastigir Khan highlighted how the PTI government tried to usurp the rights of the Provinces and started demonizing and spreading rumors about the 18th amendment.
Ahsan Iqbal told how PMLN government’s economic accomplishments helped the defence Budget hit the trillion rupee mark while benefiting the entire country with growth and employment opportunities. He slammed how the PTI’s incompetence slammed the national growth into negative territory just whne it was about to take off as the region’s Top economies.
Saad Rafique explained the achievements of PMLN for Railways and how it is now in dire trouble both operationally and financially under PTI government.
