ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said on Friday that a handful of “miscreants” associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were bent on sabotaging Pakistan’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is crucial for economic stability.
“In a bid to disrupt Pakistan’s ongoing talks with the IMF, some miscreants protested in front of IMF and World Bank offices in the United States and indulged in sloganeering against the Pakistan Army,” he said while addressing a news conference in Islamabad.
The protestors belonging to the PTI were urging the IMF to provide funds to Pakistan only if their jailed leader was released, he said, regretting that activists of an “anti-national party” continued to hold sit-ins and protests outside the IMF office.
“This is a fashionable crowd, and these are the enemies of Pakistan who have no love for the country,” the minister said while paying tributes to the overseas Pakistanis who were sending their hard-earned money to the country through white and blue-collar jobs abroad.
He said that these people were protesting to stop funding to the people of Pakistan who were wear-ing costly branded shoes and carrying branded bags.
“They only wanted to sabotage the IMF deal because their dream was to make Pakistan default, but Insha-Allah, Pakistan would make progress, and the growth rate would increase soon. The heinous conspiracies of anti-national elements would not have any effect on the IMF deal,” the minister said emphatically, adding that the imprisoned PTI founder chairman Imran Khan was involved in Toshakhana fraud, a 190-million-pound scam, and the cipher case.
He advised the PTI to approach the courts of Pakistan for the release of Imran as the IMF and World Bank had nothing to do with his cases. Tarar said that the country was stable today due to the sacrifices of martyrs, ghazis, and the efforts of patriotic political leaders.
“Allah Almighty had always protected Pakistan from external and internal threats, and the talks with the IMF were progressing positively, which was also reflected in the trends in the stock exchange,” he added.
“We have been voted by the people to solve the problems in the country, not to increase them,” he maintained.
He said that under the vision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, efforts would be made to make the country prosperous through hard work.
The premier, he added, had given a comprehensive agenda on economic reforms, including restruc-turing FBR, increasing the tax network, and reducing government expenditure.
Tarar said that since PM Shehbaz took over the power, the economic situation has started improving. The minister said that PM Shehbaz wanted an early solution to the country’s problems, and he had been pursuing the vision to chart the country on the path of progress and prosperity.
He said that international organisations like Bloomberg were hailing the appointment of Muhammad Aurangzeb as the Finance Minister of the country as he had command over economic affairs.
The minister said that unfortunately, an “anti-national party” involved in the May 9 incidents was con-spiring and working against the interests of Pakistan.
He said that the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) faced imprisonment due to fake cases but never compromised on the honour and dignity of the country.
Tarar urged the youth to side with Pakistan instead of any political party, adding, “This is the mission of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and we will be moving forward with the same spirit.”
To a query, he said that the PTI would be requested in the dialogues to refrain from taking any such initiatives that undermined the economy or country. –Agencies
