Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on Thursday alleged that the government's denial of relief after 25-30 percent fall in petroleum products prices had exposed its claim of being democratic and people-friendly.
Speaking at a news conference here at the party's camp office, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar and PML Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal pointed out that in India, where a democratic government was in office, had given relief to the people. They expressed concern over mounting external debt and foreign exchange liabilities, which had reached dollar 60 billion and there were no signs of checking the alarming trend.
Dar billed the forensic report on the last year's March stock exchange crash as a mere cover-up after spending millions of rupees, vindicating his party's stance that no one involved in it would be punished. "Contrary to India's gesture, this government is further squeezing the financially-crippled masses to make up for its unbridled spending," commented Ahsan Iqal, questioning the Advisor on Finance Salman Shah's plea that prices could be reviewed downward after subsidy costs are met. He described depriving the masses of relief despite continuous fall in POL prices in the international market as a tyrannical policy.
Ahsan added that since the rulers were non-democratic and above the law, therefore, they were totally insensitive to the compounding economic hardships of the common man. Dar wanted to know why the government shied away from allowing a debate in the Senate on petroleum products' rates issue.