ECP verdict: Imran should have resigned by now from PTI chairmanship, says Ahsan

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday said the government would complete its tenure and the next general elections would be held on time.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the minister said if Imran Khan even had a minimum level of morality, he should have resigned from the chairmanship of his party, after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision. The minister said Khan had concealed 13 accounts and now as per the ECP’s decision he had become a declared “liar and fraudster”.

He said the country’s stock and foreign exchange market responded positively to the decision of prohibited funding case given by the ECP against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Iqbal said Khan was playing with the country’s economy with external funding and did nothing on the diplomatic front, adding the reason for that was he was taking funds from Indian citizens.

He said PTI supporters should know that Khan was “a follower of Hitler” and they should not create a new Hitler in Pakistan.

“We came into power on April 12, but the treasury was empty on April 1st as the Finance Ministry had refused to release the last tranche of development funds.”

The minister further said that after the end of Khan’s government, they could have gone to the elections in a month, but this would have left the country in a situation of uncertainty for the next four months because the caretaker government does not make major decisions.

Iqbal said that one of the conditions for resuming talks with the IMF was to end the fuel subsidy. “We have fulfilled the promise made by Khan. The decision of raising petroleum products by Rs100 per litre in a month was difficult. We have saved the future of 220 million people by sacrificing 5, 10 seats, but brought the country back from the brink of an economic disaster.”

To a question, Iqbal said the government would complete the tenure and the next general elections would be held on time. He said the process of population and housing census had been started which would be completed by February 2023 and the ECP would require 3-4 more months to complete the process of delimitation. Furthermore, he said the economic situation of the country also would not afford early elections as the country needs political stability.

He said the market responded positively after the announcement of the verdict against the PTI on prohibited funding case because the people know it very well that the PTI was a party known for creating anarchy.

The country’s stock market gained around 900 points on Wednesday, while the exchange rate of Pakistan rupee also strengthened by Rs9.59 to close at Rs228.79.

The minister said although other factors might also be involved in the positive development of the market but political stability was one of the major factors and the market received positive signals.

He said during bye-elections in Punjab last month when the PTI won majority seats, the market reacted negatively and the rupee weakened significantly against the US dollar on fears of regaining power by the PTI. He said the nation also wanted political and economic stability and prosperity.

The minister maintained that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the tireless efforts of Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and his team had started yielding results, adding now as the country’s economy had been put on the path of stability and prosperity.

When the coalition government took over the charge, Iqbal said the people feared that Pakistan’s fate would also be similar to that of Sri Lanka, however, the PML-N and all the allied parties had jointly worked to bring the country back from the brink of default where the PTI government had taken it to.

He said the incumbent government was bound to obey the agreement made by the PTI government with the IMF.

He also asked the PTI voters to positively work for the development of the country. “I request all doctors, engineers, traders, officers, investors, journalists, and people from all walks of life to put extraordinary efforts to bring the country out of the crisis,” he said, adding that “we want to make our country totally independent of the IMF,” therefore, the people from all walks of life should shun all their differences and support the government in that regard.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022