Imran Khan hold Shehbaz govt 'accountable' for Pak's political collapse
Jun 13, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], June 13 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Sunday slammed the Shehbaz government saying they tried to abolish the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) while he blamed the premier's failed leadership for Pakistan's crippling economy.
He said the present rulers had not come to power to improve the unstable political set-up and reduce inflation but to close down their corruption cases, adding that almost all people are well aware of where the country is standing, but they [present rulers] have no planning how to run the country in the current situation, Dawn reported.
Asserting further, he said the present coalition government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had no plan to rid the country of economic crisis as he fear that those who will bail us out will get those things are done by us that will destroy future and security of the country," the former prime minister added.
Inflation has been high for a number of years in Pakistan now but the latest round owes in no small manner to Islamabad's own peculiar decision-making process as the country's inflation rate spiralled to 13.76 per cent in May, the highest in two-and-half-year.
Taking a direct dig at Pakistan's new budget presented by Miftah Ismail, he further stated that the incumbent rulers are appointing their like-minded officers to top positions in order to get their cases closed down while he talked about how the economy took off during his tenure but got destabilized under the present rulers.
"The current rulers tried to abolish the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Now they will destroy all institutions of the country, except the judiciary, to get NRO (concessional National Reconciliation Ordinance given by former president Gen Pervez Musharraf to two former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto), Imran said attacking the Shehbaz government.
The former premier also said his party will be going to the Supreme Court to challenge the abolition of laws relating to NAB, electronic voting machines and overseas Pakistanis' right to vote, stating further to begin the long march again once the Supreme Court permits.
The fast depletion of the foreign exchange reserves is the result of Pakistan's inflation of twin deficits, a lack of foreign currency inflows, and a sharp increase in the foreign debt servicing obligations.
In April, imports increased by 72 per cent, leaving no room for the government to improve its external balances while the foreign exchange reserves of the central bank have touched USD10.3 billion, the lowest since June 2020. The rising oil prices have already doubled the oil import bills with the overall imports also at a record high as Pakistan witnessed its biggest surge in inflation in nearly six years.
