-Interior Minister terms opposition as ‘incompetent’
-Claims MPs of Tareen group will vote for govt during the budget Session
-Gill slams baseless criticism on govt
By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Sunday said that there is practically no opposition in the country and incompetent opposition parties pose no threat to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
The minister further said that Shehbaz Sharif’s name is on Exit Control List (ECL) so he cannot leave the country. He also claimed that group of estranged PTI leader Jahangir Tareen will vote for government during the budget session.
Talking about coronavirus situation, Interior Minister said that prudent policies of the government remained successful in containing spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination drive in Pakistan is far better than in the region. He said contrary to India, where there is a dearth of vaccines at the centers, Pakistan has plenty of vaccine supply and vaccination centers are welcoming people.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill said on Sunday that the opposition parties’ criticism on the performance of government was baseless, as Pakistan was now achieving successes on various counts and all its economic indicators were showing an upward trend.
He was addressing a news conference here at PID office, while MPA Musarrat Jamshed Cheema and PTI Central Deputy Secretary Information Punjab Asim Shaukat Ali also accompanied him.
Gill added that the parties blaming the PTI for having no skills to run affairs of the state had bankrupted the country through their loot and plunder of national exchequer and resources during their tenures in government.
He recalled that in 2013, the PML-N had inherited USD 20,000 current account deficit (CAD) and USD 25,000 export revenue, but at the end of its government term in 2018, the country’s CAD had increased manifold and export revenues decreased to the lowest level.
Furthermore, the PML-N claiming of having best abilities to run the government had squeezed the country’s foreign exchange reserves from USD 18 billion to USD 9 billion just because of its ill-conceived and personal interest-centric economic policies.
The SAPM mentioned that though the PTI had inherited a jeopardised economy and ruined system of governance, it had managed to increase foreign exchange reserves from USD 9 billion to USD 23 billion, while export increased by 13.5 per cent with total export revenue volume of USD 21.5 billion today.
The dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan had a clear vision and better knowledge of when and where to launch which project in which sector for an overall boost to economy.
