TAXILA: Former prime minister and PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said due to the non-serious attitude of Imran Khan and his government, the country was in a whirlpool of crises and the citizens were facing rising inflation, price hike, increase in prices of electricity and gas, unemployment and closure of industries.

He was addressing a workers’ convention of Rawalpindi district on Thursday evening.

Former MNAs Nuzhat Sadiq, Anjum Aqeel Khan, Malik Ibrar, Shakeel Awan, Asyia Tanoli, Zaibunisa Awan and former member Punjab Assembly Malik Umer Farooq and Qammarul Islam were also present.

The convention was organised in connection with the party’s ongoing countrywide mass mobilisation drive against the government.

Mr Abbasi claimed that the popular mandate of his party was stolen to pave way for Imran Khan.

Abbasi claims PML-N’s popular mandate was stolen to pave the way for Imran Khan

He said due to the unrealistic and anti-people policies of the PTI government, everyone was frustrated in the country.

The former prime minister claimed that 11 ministers of the PTI government had informed him that the government had planned to send him behind bars by implicating him in different cases.

But he challenged the PTI leadership to arrest him if they had any allegation against him.

Mr Abbasi said the opposition’s no-confidence move against the Senate chairman would succeed as it had majority in the upper house.

However, he alleged that the PTI leadership was trying for floor crossing of 15 senators.

He said the country’s survival was linked to the rule of law.

Former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal said the PTI government had plunged the country into a worst economic crisis.

He said due to incompetence of the government, the economy had shattered during the last 10 months.

He said traders, industrialists and ordinary shopkeepers were burdened with heavy taxes and they had started protests and shutterdown strikes due to unrealistic policies of the government.

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said the country was facing a worst-ever economic crisis.

She said time was not far when the new sun would rise on the horizon of Pakistan in the shape of Nawaz Sharif and the country would be put on the path of progress and prosperity.

She said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was being used only to silence the opposition.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2019