PM responsible for wheat, sugar crises: Khaqan

Former prime minister and senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday blamed Prime Minister Imran Khan as responsible for the sugar and wheat crises, saying "the 'mafia' sitting right on the table of the federal cabinet, and the prime minister is head of that "mafia".
The former premier was speaking at a news conference along with other senior PML-N leaders to give his party's reaction to the findings of the recent report about the sugar and wheat crises in the country.
"Today, the people of Pakistan are asking either our primer minister is "incompetent" or "corrupt", the facts show that the country's prime minister is "corrupt" and "incompetent" too," Abbasi alleged, adding that the report was only to "save" the skin of those "corrupt" sitting with the prime minister.
"This is only to save those who are responsible for the Rs100 billion 'plunder'. Give them in custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). I myself spent 70 days in the NAB custody; they spend at least seven hours. Why don't you arrest them," he asked, adding that the prime minister said he had formed a commission to know the facts.
"If a prime minister is still unaware of the facts, then he should go home, and he has no right to remain in power anymore," the PML-N leader demanded. Abbasi also promised that he would present himself before the commission to respond to his party's government giving subsidy and the exports.
"We want the commission should summon us, and I, as representative of the PML-N's then government, would present the facts before it," he said, adding that during PML-N government in 2016-2017, 7.1 million tonne sugar was produced, which was 2.1 million tonne surplus from the country's demand.
In 2017-2018, the sugar production was 6.6 million tonne, which was 1.6 million tonne surplus than the actual demand of the country, Abbasi added. "If we didn't allow export at that time, the entire system of sugar would have collapsed - the farmers and the mills would have been devastated and the only way out was to allow the export," he maintained, adding that the subsidy was given due to the reason that the prices were low in the international market.
Abbasi said that Ishaq Dar who was heading the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) placed two conditions before allowing the export and the giving the subsidy, that not a single rupee price increase would be allowed and that there would be no shortage in the local market. He said that the subsidy was given by the then provincial governments and they were made, bound to chalk out their own policy.
Abbasi said that an impression was created in the report that perhaps Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif had any relevance and benefited from the subsidy. He said that the Sharif brothers had three sugar mills - Ramzan Sugar Mill, Al-Arabia Sugar Mill and Chaudhry Sugar Mill, adding that Chauhdry Sugar Mill had been closed for the last three years, and the remaining two sugar mills did not get any subsidy during the PTI government.
Abbasi further maintained that the report was just an "eye wash" and the same person was heading the commission who was leading the report. "The mafia is sitting right on the table of the federal cabinet and the head of the mafia is the prime minister himself.
The prime minister is responsible and he must accept the responsibility and these decisions were taken by the cabinet chaired by the prime minister himself. He cannot exempt himself," he maintained.
Abbasi said that his party would take this matter to its logical conclusion, adding that Pakistan could not afford corruption at this stage.
He said that there was no need to give subsidy, and despite that Punjab government gave Rs3 billion in subsidy, while no other province gave any such subsidy, adding that the farmers did not benefit from the financial support.
The subsidy, he said was much little amount and the real "plunder" was a chain of corruption and the export was used for the purpose, for which the price was paid by the people and few people benefited.
Abbasi said that the ministry concerned had also opposed the idea of the subsidy, as it held no logic from economic point of view. He maintained that the total "plunder" was Rs100 billion and Rs35 billion was earned by a few groups.
Although, the prices of sugar increased up to Rs45 per kg, yet if we suppose Rs15 as the average price rise, two groups including JDW group [of Jahangir Tareen] got Rs20 and RYK Group [owned by Makhdoom Omer Shehryar, who is brother of Khusro Bakhtiar] Rs15 billion access profits, which were gained by manipulating the policy, while sitting in the federal cabinet, Abbasi maintained.
"As per instructions by our leadership, we are not going to name anybody, but it is a fact and I am naming the two groups because their owners sit in the federal cabinet and if they manipulate the government policy for their own vested interests, then they can be named," he said, alleging them of plundering the people of the country.
He pointed out that whenever there is shortage the government allows import, adding that the PTI government said in December 2019 that it is allowing the import of sugar, while at the same time export was also underway.
"That was only to befool the people," Abbasi said, adding that all this was done despite Ministry of Food Security and Ministry of Industrial Production had opposed the idea.
Despite that, he added that the government in October 2018 allowed sugar export of 1 million tonne, which is 20 percent of the country's total production. And again, when the crisis had reached sky high in December 2019, the government allowed the export of sugar of another 100,000 tonnes.
"As soon the permission of sugar export was given, the prices started to increase, which is also mentioned in the report," he said. Abbasi maintained that it was unfortunate that the report was leaked by the media and the government did not make it public.
He pointed out that the sugar was being sold at Rs55 per kg in 2018 and then the government allowed the export and the prices increased to Rs80 per kg in February 2020, while it was expected the price to hike further up to Rs100 during Ramzan.
Abbasi said that the inquiry report was silent on how and why it happened and who was behind it. He said that people were raising these questions as to why the prices increased by up to 40 percent.