HYDERABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secretary general Ahsan Iqbal has said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is not a “lost cause” but a “silver lining” for the federation as this platform has accommodated regional parties in order to bring them into mainstream.

He was speaking at a the ‘Meet the Press’ programme of Hyderabad Press Club on Monday evening. PML-N leaders Shah Mohammad Shah, MNA Kheyal Das and other party colleagues accompanied him.

Ahsan Iqbal said that PTI’s ‘Naya Pakistan’ had become a nightmare for everyone and it was hit by economic, political, social and institutional chaos. He wished that Pakistan should not face a security chaos. “Every country’s security is dependent on its economy. The security of a country is jeopardised if its economy is in tatters,” he remarked.

‘Delay in ISI chief’s appointment was not aimed at civilian supremacy, but was due to PM’s ineptness’

He said “Vote ko izzat do’ was not a philosophy but a political reality. He referred to the East Pakistan debacle and said it was the only case in the world where majority population stood separated from the country because vote was not respected. It happened again in 2018 when vote was not respected, he added.

He said that if state machinery did not remain neutral, then all sorts of electoral reforms would remain ineffective.

“CPEC’s gears have been neutralised and we are hearing the sound of the engine of this vehicle which is being dubbed as ‘progress’ by the present government,” he sarcastically said. He claimed that during the PMN-N government, CPEC had been in full gear and it had benefited Sindh as well. The Sukkur-Multan section of Motorway was part of the CPEC, he said.

Mr Iqbal said that CPEC led to coal projects in Sindh, besides infrastructural development. He said that metro project in Karachi could not be completed by the PTI government although 90pc work was completed during the PML-N government.

He said his party’s federal government had released funds for university in Hyderabad but due to the issue of land acquisition, the funds remained unspent.

The former federal minister conceded that the PML-N had obtained loans amounting to Rs10,000bn in five years. In lieu of it, he said, the government installed power projects to produce 11,000 megawatts, laid 2,000km network of motorways and built Gawadar port, besides executing CPEC projects.

He said the PTI government acquired loans of Rs13,000bn but one could not even find a brick of development. This government spent loans only to meet deficits and creating liabilities that would have to be cleared by future governments.

Mr Iqbal observed that there was an institutional chaos in the country. “All institutions have been rendered ineffective. Judicial orders are not being given effect. The PTI government is making mockery of defence institutions,” he claimed.

He noted that the way appointments of important defence positions were delayed had created a state of uncertainty. Important corps like Peshawar and Karachi remained headless, he pointed out, and wondered: “Is this how nuclear states function?”

He said the prime minister’s step to delay the appointment of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was not aimed at civilian supremacy but it was out of his ineptness.

He wished PM Imran Khan had opted for consultation on the appointment of defence positions for the sake of civilian supremacy but it was in fact his ineptness that had been shown in case of appointment of NAB chairman and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan as well. He said this government lacked capacity to consult stakeholders on appointment for important positions. He said a similar mockery was seen at the time of the extension of army chief.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2021