Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry on Friday regretted that ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has so far failed to provide relief to its middle class voters who brought the party into power, saying the government has its hands tied due to economic problems inherited from former governments.
Addressing at a book launching ceremony, Chaudhry said when PTI came into power, it came to know that Pakistan's total income was Rs 5,647 billion and of the total income, Rs 2,000 billion are being paid as interest on loans. He blamed the Pakistan People Party (PPP) government from 2008-13 and Pakistan Muslim League (PML) government from 2013-18 for shaking the foundations of the economy in the past 10 years.
Talking about the book titled "Imran Khan and New Pakistan" written by journalist Aliya Shah, he said it beautifully captures the events relating to Naya Pakistan movement launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He said the message of Imran Khan is equality, supremacy of law and eradication of corruption. Chaudhry said the sit-in led by Imran Khan gave an alternative message to youth and that was the laying foundation stone of a new Pakistan. He said it is unfortunate that the government is not in a position to offer any relief to the middle class that brought PTI to power due to budgetary constraints.
He said, "We want to rectify the foundations of our economy. It is difficult when your income is greater than expenses. Our total income is over Rs 5.5 trillion, of which Rs 2 trillion go to debt servicing, Rs 1.7 trillion towards our defence budget, and then for the every 10 rupees, six go to the provinces. So, the federal government has a little amount to be spent on developmental projects."
"This is the economy we have inherited. Our biggest regret is that we cannot provide immediate relief to the middle class that voted for us. Taxes are levied on the salaried class, and gas and electricity rates have increased for them. We have protected the poor, but the middle class is in pain. The middle class voters are in this state because we do not have money for them. The emergence of a third party against a two-party system was a big challenge. Only Imran Khan has managed to attain this miracle that not only did a third party appear, it became the biggest party in the country," he added.
"Only a political infant would say that PTI's 126-day sit-in had a negative influence on Pakistan's politics. Someone who knows even a little bit about political movements' history is aware of that sit-in gave Pakistan's middle class and youth an alternative message. That sit-in laid the foundation of Naya Pakistan," he mentioned. The minister also continued his criticism against opposition parties, saying: "The ML-1 double track highway that was to be built from Peshawar to Karachi was estimated to cost $6 billion but the PML-N instead spent $3 billion on a 27-km Orange Line Metro Train project in Lahore."
He continued, "Then there is the fake accounts case against Asif Zardari. Of the Rs 2,000 billion spent on development in Sindh, Rs 700 billion ended up in fake accounts allegedly controlled by Zardari and Omni Groups." Fawad said that Punjab was supposed to induct 61,000 teachers, but the budget for that was instead directed to the Orange Line Train as well as the Saaf Pani project's budget was also diverted to the Orange Line Train.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019

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