TAXILA: Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has alleged that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have looted the wealth of the country mercilessly and said all those who have plundered the national wealth are liable to be killed.

Speaking to the media after inspecting the Labour Complex here on Monday, Mr Khan said the politics of the PPP and PML-N leaderships was based on corruption and money laundering. “They looted the national exchequer ruthlessly during their terms in government.”

He claimed that the performance of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government was much better than that of previous governments of the PPP and PML-N. He said the national economy was improving day by day due to relentless efforts of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his economic team and international institutions were also acknowledging this fact.

Ghulam Sarwar says looters of national wealth liable to be killed

Reacting to the aviation minister’s remarks, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb lambasted the government and said the PTI leadership was still using the “language of containers” — a reference to the speeches made by Imran Khan during the famous 126-day sit-in in Islamabad in 2014. She alleged that those who had plundered the national wealth were actually sitting with PM Khan in his cabinet. She said that for the last two years, people had been plundered through unemployment, inflation and ever increasing prices of sugar and wheat flour.

Taking Stock: First two years of PPP, PML-N and PTI in power

“If we [PML-N] had looted the wealth then why sugar was available at Rs52 per kilogram while its price is now Rs110 per kilogram, and wheat flour, which was available at Rs50 per kilogram, is now being sold at Rs100 per kilogram?” she asked.

Ms Aurangzeb claimed that GDP during the PML-N government was 5.8 per cent, which now had dropped to 0.4pc due to poor policies and incompetent leadership of the present government. She said the ‘selected government’ had played havoc with the lives of people as well as the economy.

PPP secretary general Nayyar Bukhari, while responding to the aviation minister’s statement, said Ghulam Sarwar Khan had also remained part of the PPP for years and, therefore, he should face the same fate. He said the language used by Mr Khan did not suit a man with the portfolio of a minister. He said that if someone had committed a crime or corruption, state institutions like the National Accountability Bureau and courts were there and he should be brought to justice, instead of indulging in blame game.

Mr Bukhari said the minister’s previous “irresponsible statement” in parliament had played havoc with the country’s aviation sector and tarnished its image globally as international skies were closed to the national flag carrier.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2020