LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that Pakistan is facing unprecedented economic challenges and heading towards anarchy. “The only way to get the country out of the current economic mess is fresh elections and strict implementation of the rule of law,” he said.
The former prime minister was addressing a seminar of his party held on Tuesday to unveil the PTI’s ‘white paper on the state of Pakistan’s economy’.
He observed that the whole nation was in a state of fear and wondered where Pakistan was heading to. “Already 750,000 people including top professionals have left the country.”
The eight months’ performance of the incumbent government has spread pessimism in the country and the people have lost hope in the government, he added, warning that rising unemployment and inflation were a dangerous combination; if it was not controlled then the country would plunge into anarchy.
The PTI unveiled a plan to take the country out of the present unrest and put it on the path of progress. “To bring sense in our economy, it is imperative to ensure political stability in the country and this is only possible through immediate free and fair general elections. Investors need stable conditions to invest; otherwise, they will pull out their money from the country, and only free and fair general elections can bring that stability,” he added.
“Secondly, we need to establish a rule of law in the country, which has a direct bearing on the economy. It was strange when the former army chief asked me to forget accountability and just focus on the economy, but all should know that countries with strong rule of law were the most prosperous countries in the world. No economy could progress without the rule of law as it brings a sense of security and gives confidence to the people to invest in a country. In the absence of rule of law, the overseas Pakistanis do not have confidence in our system and hence shy away from investing in Pakistan,” he said.
He also pointed out that strong institutions were imperative to curb corruption, adding that the country’s economy can be restored only with the implementation of law.
He continued that the PTI’s third step would be restructuring the state corporations and reforming the governance system; “we would bring meritocracy in governance and focus on increasing exports and simplify ‘ease of doing business’ in Pakistan. Moreover, more tourism would be focused as it is a huge untapped potential that would earn Pakistan a good amount of dollars,” he added.
He reiterated that without snap polls, we cannot progress or save the country from further meltdown; “right now tough decisions are needed and only a government with a clear mandate can do this.” He claimed that the incumbent government does not have the people’s trust and hence any tough decision by it would be met with resistance. “Only a popular government trusted by the people can take the country forward,” he added.
The former premier averred that his government inherited an economy that was facing multiple problems; however, in three and half years they changed things around and all vital economic statistics showed that the country’s economy was moving ahead. “However, the economy has nosedived after imposing corrupt rulers on the nation.”
While expressing concern over rising inflation, he said that the prices of flour, onions, tomatoes, ghee, pulses, petroleum products and power have increased by up to 200 percent in the past eight months. “A question arises, what was the rationale in imposing corrupt people on the nation who could not handle the economy? Our government showing great performance was toppled and we were replaced by ‘thieves’,” he added.
Talking about the exports, Khan said there was a dire need to solve the problems of the exporters and castigated the PML-N for leaving the country in a historical deficit. “How the country could be transformed into an ‘Asian Tiger’ or ‘Paris’ if the exporters were not considered an important part of the economy,” he added.
Giving his thoughts on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he maintained that approaching the IMF would cause the country discomfort and if it received loans from them, it would be difficult to make independent decisions. While giving reference to the recent economic survey, he claimed that after 17 years, it was his government that delivered for the country with perfection.
Speaking on the textile sector, he averred that over 1.5 million people were out of jobs in the field of the textile sector and in contrast, the textile sector was facing a labour shortage in the PTI tenure. He also expressed concern over the rupee's depreciation against the US dollar.
Talking about the recent National Security Council meeting, he said he came to know about the decision to control the smuggling of dollars; “it was ironic that corrupt rulers smuggled their corrupt money to buy properties aboard”.
Accusing the rulers of involvement in horse-trading, he claimed that they came into power after buying the people's conscience with their plundered money. He regretted that ‘two political families’ had plundered the country for 30 years.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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