LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central Punjab general secretary Hammad Azhar has chided the PML-N government for failing to prepare budget and landing country’s economy in a serious crisis.

“The incompetent government is now revising the budget,” he said.

Speaking at a news conference here on Thursday, Mr Azhar said the PML-N’s ‘imported’ government was using IMF’s name to hide its inability to handle the economic crisis it created soon after coming into power. He said the PTI government did not impose any tax during coronavirus pandemic and added that it did not increase the petrol prices though its rates were increased the world over.

Mr Azhar, a former energy minister, apprehended that the PML-N government was planning to increase power rates by 80 per cent in the next three months. He lambasted the PML-N government, saying Miftah Ismail used to say that the power unit total rate should be Rs12 but now he himself was all set to increase per unit power rate by Rs13. He regretted that the country was now facing 8,000MW shortage.

“We did not go home and continued working when power crisis touched 500MW in the PTI rule”.

Mr Azhar said Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah got terrorism cases lodged against the PTI workers and leaders even though they came to hold peaceful protest march. He said the PTI leaders and workers would continue speaking against the anti-people budget and would not fear launching of cases against them. He stressed that the PML-N government should now speak truth to the nation.

Mr Azhar also asked why the government was showing resistance to get petrol from Russia as many other countries were getting it.

Earlier, speaking at a workers’ convention in Sahiwal on Thursday, PTI central Punjab president Dr Yasmin Rashid and general secretary Hammad Azhar demanded the rulers should withdraw unprecedented increase in petrol prices as it had shattered the middle and lower-middle class.

Dr Rashid said the party workers should work diligently and ensure that all turncoats be handed defeat.

Published in Dawn,June 17th, 2022