May 14, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, May 13: Acting president of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has said that Gen Pervez Musharraf’s claim of reduction in poverty incidence “is a blatant misrepresentation of facts.”

In a press statement issued by the PML-N Media Centre here on Tuesday, Mr Hashmi suggested that before making this claim, Gen Musharraf should have at least consulted his finance minister, who had acknowledged before representatives of world financial bodies that poverty continued to rise in Pakistan.

He added that while Gen Musharraf was busy boasting about the achievements of his economic policies at a function in Lahore on Monday, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz was telling the World Bank and other international financial institutions at the Pakistan Development Forum in Islamabad that the poverty line had gone up instead of coming down during the military rule.

He said in fact Gen Musharraf’s policies during the past 42 months had increased poverty by at least 25 per cent, and about half of the country’s population could not even afford two square meals a day.

He said a recent report of the Asian Development Bank had forecast a further rise in unemployment in the coming years, he added.

The PML-N leader said the present military government had already made life miserable for the people with 107 per cent increase in gas prices, 100 per cent raise in power tariff and 150 per cent increase in the prices of petroleum products over the last three years.

He said: “The generals and their camp followers had already inflicted huge losses on the national exchequer with a phenomenal increase in their salaries, purchase of fleets of brand-new expensive vehicles and many more other perks.”

He added that the country could no longer afford their luxurious lifestyle.

He said that while the people waited for the next budget, the press had been reporting with reference to official sources that new taxes would be levied and many subsidies would be cut down, all indicating that Gen Musharraf was bent upon pushing the country to the brink of economic disaster.

He said Gen Musharraf’s “false and baseless” claims about economic indicators were either due to his “ignorance” or “he was deliberately fooling the people”.

He challenged the president to a debate with him on television so that the people could be informed about the factual situation.