SUKKUR: Pakistan Mus­lim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday labelled the Pak­is­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government as a “comedy troupe” and its 100-day performance a “theatrical show”.

Speaking to reporters at the Sukkur airport, he said the government’s 100-day performance was nothing but a political comedy where actors amused people with their funny U-turns, jokes and other laughable segments.

“All this only pushed the country back as nothing progressive could be seen as yet,” Mr Iqbal said and reiterated his party’s stance that they [PML-N] would calmly watch everything until it [PTI government] ended up in a zero result.

The former minister pointed out that dollar’s surge within a short span of time further indebted the country by Rs2,000 billion. “The prime minister insists he will not go to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] to seek a loan but he is visiting country after the country with the begging bowl in his hands,” he remarked.

Mr Iqbal also contested the government’s claim that the institutions of army and judiciary stood behind it, saying that they actually stood behind the state and Constitution. He accused the PTI government of “playing the army and judiciary cards” which was an insult to these institutions. “The army is required to clarify its position over the government’s claim,” he added.

The former minister also rejected the allegation that his party was hatching a conspiracy to fail the government. “We do not do such politics; we did not take part in the recent protests,” he said apparently alluding to the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pak­is­tan (TLP) sit-in, adding that it was PTI that had resorted to holding sit-ins in the past under a conspiracy against the PML-N government.

Commenting on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s idea of micro-economics and example of poultry farming at cottage level, Mr Iqbal said it did not suit a statesman of prime minister’s stature to advise people to go for such a livelihood; more so because poultry was a provincial subject.

Regarding declining nat­ional economy, he alleged that corruption on the part of [PTI] government functionaries brought down the growth rate to four per cent from 5.8 per cent achieved by the PML-N government.

He claimed that PTI voters were disappointed by the government due to inflation and bad governance.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2018