China Pakistan Economic Corridor: PML-N accuses PM of causing $40bn damage to country

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secretary general Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of destroying the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and causing $40 billion losses to the country by delaying the construction of nine industrial corporations/special economic zones (SEZs).

Talking to the media, the PML-N leader alleged that besides the country’s economy, Prime Minister Khan ‘destroyed’ the CPEC, saying that as per the plan, nine SEZs were scheduled to be finalised by 2020 with more than $40 billion Chinese private investment.

“But, it is 2022 and not a single special economic zone has been finalised. In 2017-18, we were expecting $40 billion private Chinese investment in the SEZs. But instead, the prime minister reached China with a begging bowl for getting $3 billion loan,” he maintained, adding that the government is also seeking $1 billion loan from Russia.

He also lashed out at the prime minister allegedly for using the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for ‘political victimisation.’ He said the opposition leaders were being kept in the ‘fake’ cases against them.

“This is the person who used to claim that he would prefer to commit suicide than availing an IMF [International Monetary Fund] programme. Instead, he not only got the programme but also leased out State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to the IMF,” he further alleged, adding: “Such a person is not capable of becoming prime minister of Pakistan, but deserves to be held accountable for destroying and making Pakistan a slave to the international financial institutions.”

Ahsan added that the time was not far away when the rulers would be held accountable for their alleged ‘crimes’ against the country and compromising on Kashmir.

“A person whose name is Imran Khan Niazi and who even doesn’t know how to run the economy of the country, what’s political unanimity, how to make the country’s image better on diplomatic front, and how to stop the Indian atrocities in occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, adding that the prime minister was also oblivious how to address the sense of deprivation of Balochistan and how to control the hoarding of the essential items.

He kept criticising the prime minister, saying that he had no clue how to give jobs to the youth, how to address the unemployment and how to bring the prices of medicines down.

Referring to the issuance of the health card by the government, he alleged that the health card was issued to give relief to the pharmaceutical companies, which have already increased prices of medicines up to many hundreds percent by making it impossible for the people to get their medical treatment.

Ahsan said that the government was further increasing the power tariff by more than Rs3 per unit in the coming days, adding that prices of ghee and cooking oil have already been increased.

“He [Imran Khan] knows only one thing how to frame fabricated cases against the opponents and how to do their character assassination through media and social media,” he said, adding that Imran Khan has made lives of 220 million people miserable.

He said that the people do not want ‘Langar Khanay’ but factories, so that the GDP growth is increased and jobs are created for the people.

Ahsan also questioned the prime minister about his reluctance to public, details of the foreign gifts he had received during his foreign trips. He also criticised the former chief justice SaqibNisar for declaring Imran Khan as ‘Sadiq and Ameen’, adding that how a person could be ‘Sadiq and Ameen’ who is not ready to share the details of the foreign gifts and the alleged increase in his assets.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022