ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday observed “Thanksgiving Day and Salvation Day” marking the end of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) era.

On the occasion, the party also issued a brief overview of PDM’s one-and-a-half-year rule.

The PTI spokesperson said that as the era eventually came to an end, the nation should be given the constitutional right to elect its representatives through free, fair and transparent elections.

He stated that the group set the darkest examples of political revenge during its governance, adding that elections were not held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in sheer violation of the Constitution.

Accuses coalition govt of violating Constitution, damaging economy, and undermining institutions

“The status of the Supreme Court and High Courts was undermined, as these individuals failed to implement court decisions. All institutions, including the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the bureaucracy, were politicised, leading to a loss of public trust in them.

“Barbarism of the rulers could be judged from the fact that around 17,000 political workers were unlawfully detained and subjected to worst torture.

“The PDM government, imposed on the nation by overthrowing an elected democratic government through conspiracy, ruined the economy, which was previously growing at an annual rate of six per cent,” he said.

The PTI spokesperson noted that PDM badly exposed before the nation due to its “incompetence”, besides crushing the masses under the burden of record and back-breaking inflation, adding that the prices of food items, petrol, gas and electricity witnessed an exorbitant escalation during the last 16 months.

‘Alarming increase in debt’

He revealed that due to the 38pc inflation rate, around 24 to 25pc more of the population had slipped below the poverty line, adding that the growth rate fell from 6pc to negative and industries were closed down, rendering over two million people jobless.

The PTI spokesperson further stated that the PDM alarming-ly piled up the country’s debt, while the income has remained negligible.

The coalition government, comprising 13 parties and created under the narrative of rescuing the country from bankruptcy, established a record for the largest cabinet in history.

He continued by stating that PTI Chairman Imran Khan, along with the senior party leadership, was booked and incarcerated in politically motivated cases.

He alleged that an assassination attempt was made on the former prime minister of the country, yet he was denied the constitutional right to file a case.

He pointed out that Mr Khan was abducted from the court premises, afterwards the government unleashed a reign of terror under the guise of events on May 9, targeting the entire party and its supporters.

The PTI spokesperson said the PTI chairman was also denied jail facilities that he was entitled to as a former premier under the prison manual.

He noted that a prominent Pakistani investigative journalist, Arshad Sharif, was initially forced into exile in Kenya, where he was brutal murdered.

He alleged that the Sharif family exploited the FIA to put an end to their money laundering references, adding that a certain group managed to secure NRO-2 by amending the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) rules, inflicting a loss of Rs1,100 billion to the national kitty.

The PTI spokesperson said that the electronic voting machine was abolished by amending the Election Act 2017, which undermined the potential for a transparent and fair election process.

He added that after creating obstacles in the democratic process of dissolving two provincial assemblies, the election body made all-out efforts to justify its avoidance of holding elections within the constitutionally mandated 90-day period.

The PTI spokesman stated that the caretaker governments consisting of “controversial individuals” were being used for political motives.

He added that after adapting the country’s foreign policy according to the directives of its foreign masters, the government suffered humiliation within the international community.

He made it clear that despite spending billions of rupees on the foreign tours by the prime minister and the foreign minister, Pakistan suffered isolation on the global stage.

Despite receiving repeated warnings, the government failed to address the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the country due to which the menace of terrorism resurfaced, he said. According to experts, terrorism has increased by nearly 120pc in the year 2022, he alarmed.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2023