ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif and party president Shehbaz Sharif have censured Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan for writing a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying the move is tantamount to “enmity” with the nation.
Nawaz Sharif, who was sworn in as a member of the National Assembly on Thursday after almost seven years, following his disqualification in the Panama Papers case in 2017, was talking informally to reporters at the Parliament House.
“No political party or individual can write such a letter [to IMF]. Who wrote the letter to the IMF? It is he [Imran Khan] the only one who can write such a letter,” Nawaz Sharif said when his comments were sought on the recent letter addressed by Imran Khan to the IMF, seeking an audit of the February 8 elections prior to any bailout negotiations with the government of Pakistan.
Incoming govt to fix economy, says Nawaz
The PML-N Quaid said that such a letter to the IMF is tantamount to “enmity” with the country, adding that one can determine the intentions behind this move.
In an informal chat with reporters separately, the PML-N president and candidate for the office of the Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif also strongly criticised the PTI founder for his letter to the IMF, saying that Imran Khan through the letter has urged the Fund not to enter into another programme with Pakistan.
“After the diplomatic cipher, this is another proof of enmity with the country. Now there should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that they [the PTI] want total destruction of Pakistan,” Shehbaz Sharif maintained.
He said that this was an “extremely” condemnable and deplorable move. “No Pakistani, despite political differences, will resort to such an anti-national move,” Shehbaz Sharif further maintained.
Talking separately to journalists, PML-N leader Ishaq Dar said that no decision has so far been made as to who will be the finance minister in the new coalition government.
He said that the coalition parties’ leadership has so far made decisions on the slots of Speaker and Deputy Speaker and not on any other portfolio of the federal cabinet.
Dar, however, expressed the optimism that the forthcoming coalition will try its level best to bring the economy back on track.
Senior PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz also lambasted Imran Khan for his letter to the IMF and accused him of resorting to causing serious damage to the country’s economy.
“Those who set the country on fire on May 9 are trying to set the economy on fire in the same way through writing the letter to the IMF,” he said, adding that none of PTI’s efforts will succeed and the country will move in the right direction.
He said that the newly elected government led by PML-N will serve the nation and the country will move in the right direction.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament House, PML-N deputy secretary general Atta Tarar also strongly condemned the PTI founder for writing a letter to the IMF and accused Imran Khan of creating a crisis in the country.
He also grilled Imran Khan for his past stance with regard to approaching the IMF and now resorting to writing a letter to the Fund to audit the February 8 general elections in the country.
“What expertise do the IMF have to conduct an audit of the polls?” he asked, adding that the PTI chief does not want the economy to strengthen.
He also questioned the “double standards” of the PTI chief, saying that his party won the polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and accepted the results while resorted to allegations of rigging in other parts of the country where they lost the elections.
“We will not let such designs succeed that are aimed at derailing the democracy and destructing the economy,” the PML-N leader said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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