ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday termed the one-and-a-half-year tenure of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led regime as the worst period for the country, saying it completely ruined the economy of the country.
Muzammil Aslam, the PTI spokesman for economy, said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were left exposed within 16-month tenure as this had been their performance during their overall 35-year rule in the past.
He said that the economy slipped to 0.3 percent under Shehbaz Sharif regime which the PTI had left at 6.1 percent in 2022, adding the growth rate clocked in at 0.5 percent along with high inflation and unemployment rates during the worst-ever rule of PDM regime.
He said that the unemployment rate was at 6.2 percent when PTI was in power, and it reached an all-time high during PDM regime, and the highest in the last 75 years, adding the PDM regime also broke all the records of inflation.
He said that the unemployment rate stood at 6.2 percent but according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), it reached at 8.5 percent during PDM regime, which shows 60 percent population has gone down below the poverty line which is shameful.
He continued that the inflation rate accelerated to the history’s highest ever level of 38 percent during PDM regime which was only 12 percent when PTI was in power.
He said that the policy was raised to 22 percent – the highest since 1997 – by the PDM rulers as it stood at 19 percent during PTI government, adding rupee suffered the worst as it was depreciated by 105 against the US dollar during their 16-month rule.
He said that the PTI government borrowed Rs18.5 billion in its 45-month stint, while the PDM regime borrowed Rs20 billion during its 16-month imported regime.
Aslam said that the budget deficit climbed to Rs6,400 billion – again the highest in the history of the country – during Shehbaz Sharif’s regime, which would reach Rs7,000 billion next year.
Meanwhile, the party observed a thanksgiving day after the 16-month-long tenure of PDM came to an end on Wednesday.
A spokesman for PTI said that as the dark era eventually came to an end, the nation should be given the constitutional right to elect its representatives through free, fair, and transparent elections.
He said that the group of criminals set the darkest examples of political revenge during its worst government of one and a half years, adding that elections were not held in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in sheer violation of the constitution.
He lamented that the status of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and high courts were destroyed, as the “PDM thugs” did not implement their decisions besides politicising all state institutions including the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
He said that the barbarism of the crooked rulers could be judged from the fact that around 17,000 political workers were unlawfully detained and subjected to the worst torture.
He stated that the “cabal of crooks” broke the constitution and virtually ended the rule of law in the country just to stay in power, adding that they unleashed a reign of terror on PTI and its supporters and were subjected them to a systematic, sustained and state-sponsored campaign of human rights violations.
He said that political opponents were subjected to illegal arrests, raids on residences and custodial torture, besides violating the sanctity of four walls, adding that these criminals set an example of the worst state oppression against women and children.
He went on to say that PTI Chairman Imran Khan including the senior party leadership was booked and put behind bars in false, fabricated, and politically-motivated cases.
He said that the assassination attempt was made on the former Prime Minister of the country, but even then he was deprived of the constitutional right to register the case.
He said that the PTI chief was also deprived of jail facilities he is entitled as a former premier under the prison manual after detaining him as a result of a controversial decision denying him the right to a fair trial.
He said that Sharif family exploited the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to end their money laundering references, adding a group of thieves secured NRO-II by amending the NAB rules, inflicting a loss of Rs1100 billion to the national kitty.
He went on to say that by appointing puppet members in the ECP, the PDM junta used the institution as a revenge tool against PTI.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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