KARACHI, Nov 21: Pakistan Muslim League-N has said poverty can be reduced and the “cancer of soaring prices” can be eliminated only after the IMF and World Bank agents are removed from the scene.

PML-N leaders — former governor Mamnoon Hussain and ex-MPAs Sardar Raheem, Makhdoom Shahnawaz, Saleem Zia and Khwaja Tariq Nazeer — claimed that the present rulers had fixed $1 billion as price for the country’s sovereignty, love for Islam and freedom. This manifested the thinking of the rulers who had made themselves a laughing stock in the world.

Accusing them of taking dictations from IMF and the World Bank, the PML leaders said the rulers had become a burden for the economy. The rulers ignored the hardships of the common people and also the soaring prices.

Referring to President Musharraf’s claims that decisions were being made on merit, they asked which “merit” had the general talked about after the recent “onslaught” of military men in public institutions.

They said every conscious citizen of the country was eager for the restoration of democracy and implementation of Article-6 of the Constitution. The day was not far off when the usurpers would be wiped away from the scene, with the ushering of real democracy in the country, the PML-N leaders added.