ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties on Saturday demanded resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying he should better step down as his government has miserably failed to maintain the prices of petroleum products.
The criticism from opposition parties came at a time when the prices of petroleum prices were jacked up on the eve of New Year, which the opposition parties dubbed as a ‘petrol bomb’ on the masses already crushed under skyrocketing inflation.
In their separate statements, Pakistan People’s party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and opposition leader in the National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif came down hard on the government for increasing the POL prices.
“The governments across the world celebrate festive occasions by bringing down prices, but on the contrary, Imran Khan has dropped an inflation bomb on the masses,” Sharif said.
He asked the prime minister to step down instead of punishing the masses due to his ‘incompetence’ He said the new year would rid the masses of inflation, economic disruption, hunger, diseases, and injustice as the days of the PTI-regime are numbered.
However, Bilawal said that increase in prices of petroleum products was Imran Khan’s New Year’s gift to the citizens and the only way to end inflation is to oust the PTI’s government.
“Imran Khan claimed that 2021 would be the year of prosperity, but 2022 has arrived, where have the claims gone,” asked the PPP chairman.
He stated that the country witnessed higher inflation than a year prior during the PTI’s tenure, but they continue to blame the previous governments and try to portray them as incompetent.
Bilawal claimed that the PPP faced the worst economic crisis in the world’s history but did not let the citizens bear the brunt of the inflation.
He urged the federal government to reduce the rates of petroleum products in line with international prices. The PPP chairman said that the only way to end inflation is to “oust Imran Khan.”
On the eve of the New Year, the federal government announced yet another hike in the prices of petroleum products. According to a notification issued by the Finance Division on Friday, the price of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) will rise by Rs4 per litre for the first 15 days of January 2022.
The new prices came into effect from January 1. The increase has been announced to meet the petroleum levy target agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As per the notification, the price of kerosene has been increased by Rs3.95, and light diesel oil (LDO) by Rs4.15 per litre.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022