LAHORE: Opposition PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan for yet another increase in prices of petroleum products to make the lives of people miserable, demanding either to take it back or step down.

“This disastrous government led by Imran Khan should have stepped down instead of dropping another petrol bomb on the people on the New Year’s Eve,” Shehbaz said.

He said governments across the world greeted their people with good news on New Year, while the PTI regime had started the year with another crushing price hike.

PTI described as another name for heartless cruelty

“PTI was another name for heartless cruelty,” the opposition leader in the National Assembly said and added that Imran Niazi and his government must resign immediately instead of trying to hide their failures by punishing the nation.

“It is imperative to get rid of this government in this year to end the crisis of inflation and unemployment and economic devastation,” he said and hoped and prayed that the New Year would bring an end to the inflation, mismanagement, economic destruction, starvation, ailments, cruelty and injustice.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari referred to the increase as a “New Year’s gift” from the prime minister for the people. The government had claimed that 2021 would be a year of prosperity but 2022 has now arrived [so] where did that claim of prosperity go?

“Every year ‘Naya Pakistan’ proved to be more expensive than the last and then the government claimed the previous governments were incompetent,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari said and added that during the PPP’s last government, there was the worst global economic crisis but it did not allow the people to bear the burden of inflation.

“The federal government should immediately reduce the prices of petroleum products in line with world market prices,” he demanded and added that the only solution to getting rid of inflation was ending PM Khan’s government.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2022