ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday warned the opposition not to violate the law during their public gatherings, otherwise, the government would not spare them, and take them to task. Speaking at Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF), the prime minister said the opposition could have as many public gatherings as it wanted but asked it not to violate the law as the government was in no mood to give them 'VIP jail' this time for violating the law, during their public gatherings.
He described them as jobless people who have formed an alliance to save their corruption but restated that he would not give them any "NRO", The premier said that rulers during the last 10 years, after the then military president Musharraf gave them an "NRO", caused immense harm to the economy, and now the government had to spend halve of the tax collection on debt servicing of the loans borrowed by them. He said that opposition was opposing the government because it knew that the difficult time was over and now the country was on path to economic recovery as cement production and consumption was record high, and sales of motorcycles were the highest in a month, during this fiscal year.
The prime minister also came hard on former prime minister, and stated that how he (Nawaz Sharif) could expect from people to take to the streets, while he himself is sitting in London. While referring to Nawaz Sharif, he said that they even do not accept court verdicts.
The premier said that the opposition tried to blackmail the government on the issue of FATF, and the 34 amendments in the NAB law were aimed at disbanding it, and wondered how a new spokesman for the party could equate former premier with the Imam Khomeini of Iran, and added that there was no comparison between the two as former during his government owned properties in London, while the latter lived a very simple life, and was forced to live in exile, while Nawaz Sharif went abroad willingly.
He said that former prime minister did not present a single document in the court with regards to money trail for purchase of property in London. He said he however provided all the documents of his London flat, which was purchased 40 years ago.
He also referred to the State of Madina, and stated that rule of law had been the basis that lifted it in the presence of two empires. The prime minister said that lawyers would be given health cards, accommodated in the Naya Pakistan Housing Project, and urged them to follow the path of Founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
APP adds: The prime minister, while terming the rule of law the basis of a civilized society, said the ruling elite class had caused irreparable losses to the national economy through plunder and corruption during their tenures.
Those leaders, he said, were now maligning the government, the army and the judiciary, in order to get relief in the form of an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance).
The prime minister said the cabinet had given a nod for allowing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief to get medical treatment abroad in view of number of diseases as claimed. However by denying to return to the country, Nawaz Sharif was proving that he belonged to a "special class that could not be questioned".
He referred to an international report saying that around $1,000 billion was annually drained from the poor to rich countries through corruption and exploitation by the elite.
Imran Khan said Nawaz Sharif was in fact promoting the agenda of India by maligning the Pakistan Army, ignoring the situation of countries like Libya, Somalia and Yemen faced in the absence of a strong military.
"I don't have any problem with the army because it supports our manifesto and has effectively assisted the government during the situation like COVID-19 and Karachi rains," he said. Referring to Nawaz Sharif's statement that the then Inter-Services Intelligence chief had demanded resignation from him, he said, "If this is so, why he remained silent. This is because that he knew of his involvement in corruption."
The prime minister mentioned that Pakistan was at the tipping point after two difficult years of dealing with economy nearing the verge of collapse.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
Comments
Comments are closed.