Flood-affected people need healing not Imran’s dirty politics: Musadik

Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik said Friday that millions of people have been affected by deadly flooding and are in "dire need of healing," but PTI chairman Imran Khan was busy doing dirty politics in the testing times, APP reported.

“The flood-affected people are in dire need of remedial measures as their lives and integrity is in danger. But Imran Khan disappointed us by doing politics at this critical juncture and hurling threatening statements in public meetings such as ‘he will not spare’ and ‘he will reveal names’,” he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

The minister said Imran Khan should have the courage to name the people whom he would not spare and reveal the names instead of mere hurling threats.

Will Imran Khan reveal the names of Finance Ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab who tried to sabotage the IMF deal on the instructions of Shaukat Tareen, he questioned.

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Musadiq Malik said that it was unfortunate that PTI leadership and the workers had run a negative campaign against Pakistan armed forces’ jawans and officers martyred in the helicopter crash in Balochistan.

He criticised the PTI chairman for hiring the services of lobbyist David Fenton in the US, who was known as the founder of the denuclearization programme, besides getting money and land from Malik Riaz to protect his money-laundering and receiving millions of pounds from Arif Naqvi, Chief Executive of the Abraj Capital and Investment Company, indicted by the US courts in a range of cases and could get up to 290-year jail.

PM Shehbaz, Army Chief discuss relief operations in flood-hit areas

He said Imran Khan should be ashamed of ruining state institutions during the PTI government’s tenure with his poor governance and failed policies that caused severe energy as well as food crisis and brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy.

Malik said it was unfortunate that Imran Khan was doing politics and wanted to create division in public and institutions for personal gains, especially when the country was struggling to manage the widespread life and property damages caused by the unprecedented floods.

He was of the view that the federal and provincial governments and the departments concerned were utilizing all their resources to reduce the suffering of the people to whom the devastating floods rendered homeless.

The minister said the previous government also violated the commitments made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about the subsidies for getting financial assistance.

“The PTI government, as a pre-condition, had signed a contract with the IMF that they will increase the prices and impose petroleum levies and sales tax. But, it violated sovereign commitment with the international financial institutions,” he said.

The minister said the PTI did all this to push the country towards default and bankruptcy for political gains.

Govt starts cash distribution among flood-affected people

The minister said that the government of Qatar had shown willingness to invest $ 3 billion in LNG plants, solar, infrastructure, and the establishment of terminals at the country’s ports.

He said that the government had also expedited work on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He was of the view that the country’s economic direction had been set by the coalition government.

“We are determined to strengthen the economic condition of the country”, he added.

To question he said, to meet the gas demand in the upcoming winter, the government had already issued instructions to three companies to purchase LNG.