LAHORE: Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi heavily criticized the government for hike in prices, termed the spiralling inflation a “failure of the government”.
Addressing a press conference along with PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal in Islamabad, the former premier asserted that over the past three days, the price of not just petrol, but also of other commodities such as eggs, potatoes and onions had increased manifold.
Referring to a relief package recently announced by Prime Minister Imran, Abbasi questioned from where the funds for the Rs120 billion programme were to be arranged. “This all is just for the show. It is a deception with the nation,” he added.
The PML-N stalwart also regretted that the parliament, where the issue of inflation could be deliberated upon to find a solution, had been “deliberately paralysed”. “We were compelled to hold a press conference to highlight this important issue, as there was a bar on speaking in the parliament,” he added.
Referring to PM Imran’s speech a day ago, he quoted the premier as saying that the latter would not shake hands with the “corrupt” opposition. “However, then why does he shake hands with those in his cabinet?” Abbasi questioned, alleging the involvement of cabinet members in sugar and drug mafias.
‘PM Imran misleading the nation’
Taking over the presser, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was “misleading the nation” on the hike in petrol prices.
He referred to the premier’s address at a public gathering earlier in the day, where the latter had said that the rise in inflation and prices of commodities was a consequence of the increase in prices globally.
“This rise in the price of petrol in the country is in no way linked to the increase in the prices of fuel internationally,” he added. Noting that the price of fuel was around $65 per barrel on average in 2018, he said over the course of three years, the rate had risen by around merely $2 or three percent to $67.
“Internationally, the fuel price increases by just three percent, and here it jacks up by 66pc,” the PML-N leader pointed out. Hence, he added, the rise in petrol price in Pakistan was the result of the incumbent government’s “inefficiency and wrong decisions”.
He further said because of the rupee’s devaluation, the price of every commodity being imported would increase. “And when the price of imported fuel increases, there will be a rise in electricity and gas prices. It’s a chain, and eventually the price of other commodities would soar as well,” he added.
