ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the main opposition party, at a meeting of its legislators on Tuesday claimed that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had brought the national economy to an unprecedented decline that would cause an irreversible economic catastrophe in the country.

In the meeting of the PML-N parliamentary committee, the party stalwarts backed Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif’s decision to stay with his ailing brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in London.

The party condemned what it called “an assassination attempt” on Nawaz Sharif’s personal physician Dr Adnan and urged the British government to ensure that justice should prevail. The meeting observed that Dr Adnan was hit in the head with a metal rod and continuously battered despite being seriously wounded.

“The basic objective of the meeting was to highlight the plight of people and it was decided that the opposition will raise people’s issues in the parliament,” PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal told Dawn.

He said the recent crash of Pakistan’s stock market marked a new chapter of historic destruction of national economy.

Talking about Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s recent statement in which he had said that Nawaz Sharif was a “selected” prime minister, Mr Iqbal said the meeting took the statement seriously but decided not go for confrontation with the other opposition party otherwise it would benefit the government.

About Shahbaz Sharif’s stay in London, he rejected media reports that some of the participants had demanded the return of Mr Sharif and said the meeting backed his decision to stay with his elder brother in London. “The meeting was of the view that the presence of Shahbaz in London is giving moral support to the former prime minister,” he added.

“Party’s stalwarts said his [Shahbaz Sharif’s] absence was making no difference as they were here to defend the party and run its affairs. They believed that the health of Nawaz Sharif was most important than other issues,” he added.

Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by PML-N information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb, the party leaders said in the meeting that the nation needed to learn from the annihilation of Soviet Union and must understand that “Imran Khan is Pakistan’s Gorbachev”.

The meeting rejected the FIA’s initial report on sugar and wheat crisis and said it was a cover-up to save the real culprits behind the “theft of wheat and sugar”. “The report is a conjured up story to keep the actual convicts and their leader away from accountability therefore a parliamentary committee should be formed to probe the national robbery,” she added.

Ms Aurangzeb said that 14 per cent crushing inflation was intolerable for the people, unbearable electricity and gas tariff hikes had brought the poor to the brink of extermination and it had become impossible for the poor to survive under this “ruthless and apathetic” government.

According to her, the meeting condemned violations of human rights in India-occupied Kashmir and Palestine and said the United Nations’ resolutions were being blatantly violated with impunity while the civilised world remained silent which was alarming.

Participants of the meeting said India with its unilateral and illegal annexation of the occupied Kashmir had jeopardised the safety, security and stability of the entire region.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2020