ISLAMABAD: Senior PTI leader and former planning minister Asad Umar on Thursday asserted that uncertainty surrounding the economy is poisonous and the only way to improve the prevailing situation is to go for elections.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside PTI leaders Ali Zaidi and Omar Ayub Khan, Asad Umar compared the country’s economic situation during the PTI’s tenure with the present state of the economy, referring to a National Accounts Committee report issued yesterday that said Pakistan’s growth rate had neared six per cent.
He linked the growth to measures taken by the PTI government, saying that a “broad-based recovery was witnessed” during the last government’s tenure.
It was in this situation that Imran Khan’s government was toppled through a “foreign conspiracy” and the Pakistani nation is still paying its price, Umar added. He termed the move an “attack on Pakistan’s stability”.
All the economic improvement that was taking was “sabotaged”, the PTI leader said. “There are two ways to address the uncertainty: one that leads to betterment and the other that we are hearing about,” Umar added.
He further said that there was consensus across Pakistan that elections should be held. Then there is the other path that is being recommended, he continued. In this connection, Umar said without naming anyone that “it is being said they will use force and see how Imran Khan comes out for his march”.
Listen carefully, Umar said without addressing anyone in particular, the PTI’s ongoing “struggle” is not that of Imran’s or the party’s alone. “This nation has decided that it will not accept slavery. If someone believes that they can suppress this decision through force, violence and the use of weapons, then it is their misconception,” he added.
“And we have seen such misconceptions in the past as well,” he said, as he went on to recall the incident of veteran Baloch nationalist leader and former chief minister of Balochistan, Akbar Bugti.
Asked whether he was referring to the army here, he replied: “The Pakistan Army is an institution under the government and I am addressing the government. Whichever institution is listening, it is up to them.”
He then questioned whether the airstrike by India in Balakot in 2019 was more damaging to Pakistan or the no-confidence vote that saw Imran Khan ousted as prime minister. “I was asking people. Tell me whether the strike by India in Balakot caused more damage to Pakistan or the no-confidence motion which was introduced through foreign interference and caused political instability?” he asked.
When asked about the PTI’s planned “Azadi” march on Islamabad, Umar said it is likely to be held either on May 29 or May 30, but only Imran Khan will decide the final date.
He said preparations had been made to bring people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab. People would also come from Sindh and Balochistan, he said, adding that however since these provinces are comparatively distant, the plan is to give a call to people to hold rallies in big cities.
Umar also rejected reports that the PTI had prepared women and children to resist any possible arrests at the march. However, he added that “we have increased Imran’s security” in light of reports of threats to his life.
