Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz on Friday said that PTI-led Imran Khan was alone in the past and is still standing single-handedly against the caravan of thieves. While rejecting the perception that containers were placed to restrict the movement of opposition rallies, he said that they were aimed at diverting the opposition rallies towards the designated place in Gujranwala.
“Our top priority right now is to control inflation,” he said and blamed the opposition for failing to bring reforms in the institutions during their tenures. Shibli Faraz said that when questions are asked over the source of money used to make assets by opposition leaders, they start raising hue and cry rather than responding to it.
He further lamented the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and said that he left the country for London to avail the facility of medical treatment but started to take part in political activities from there. “Now he is calling for protests in Pakistan while sitting in London,” the information minister said. While claiming that the government is taking the country towards prosperity, he said that mafias are coming together to destabilize the country because they did not like a prosperous Pakistan.
“They have failed to bring reforms during their 40 years in politics and are once again trying to fool the masses,” he said adding that the government would neither give any relief nor compromise over corruption cases.
Meanwhile, Rounding on the opposition parties for lambasting the government for rising inflation, Minister for Information Shibli Faraz on Friday held the opposition responsible for the sorry state of the country.
The speech comes two days after the All Pakistan Clerks Associations (APCA) staged a sit-in in front of the Parliament House, Islamabad to protest against price hike and what they called anti-employees policies of the government. The protesters, who were endorsed by a number of unions, associations and organisations of government employees, urged the government to increase their salaries and allowances proportionate to inflation in addition to accepting their other demands.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Faraz said: “[The opposition] says that inflation is rising [but] you are its root cause. It is because of your policies and the collapse of government institutions over the last 40 to 50 years [yet] you expect us to fix this in two years.
“We will fix it and will enable the country and government institutions to stand on their own two feet.” Admitting to a rise in inflation, the minister added that it was a “temporary thing” and would be resolved within the next few weeks.
The government on Wednesday admitted the rising prices of wheat and sugar have added to the miseries of common people, saying it has started taking effective and practical measures, which will bring stability to prices of the commodities within days.
The minister further said: “If [the opposition] thinks that they can put us under pressure, like they did when it came to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) proposals, that will not happen.”
President Dr Arif Alvi had summoned regular sessions of both houses of parliament Friday the same day the opposition-led Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) prepares for its first rally in Gujranwala.
The opposition has claimed that the rally will lay the foundation for the ouster of Imran Khan’s government. During the Senate session, the minister said that the opposition was staging the Gujranwala rally not in favour of “the likes of Saad Rafique” but to protect the “two royal families” who considered it their right to come into power.
“They say the elections were rigged gather the data and see how many election petitions you filed and how many PTI filed.” What double standards are these, he questioned, adding that the opposition was only happy when things proceeded according to their wishes. He said that the opposition had “exposed themselves” and would not be coming back into power. “Their [days in] politics are up.”
