Islamabad: PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal has said the two-week-long “drama” concerning appointment of new spymaster had become a “joke” in front of the world.
Taking to media in Islamabad, Ahsan Iqbal said “Sometimes the prime minister threatens that the [military] commander can be removed like [famous Muslim military commander] Khalid bin Waleed and sometimes he says the promotion of army commanders in Riyasat-i-Madina was on the basis of merit — which is perhaps not happening today on merit which is stinging him,” he said.
“This is the drama happening in Pakistan,” he remarked, adding that the country was an atomic power and yet “the world is looking at us and laughing.”
Iqbal said the country had been thrust into an economic crisis and alleged that the government had done nothing the past three years except for “pursuing fake cases” against its opponents and “looting with both hands while hiding behind the garb of honesty”.
Institutions were rendered ineffective one-by-one and made a “drama” of, he alleged.
In his press talk, Iqbal said the economic situation had forced the common man to scream out in distress. He termed the recent hike in petrol prices by the government an “atomic bomb of inflation” dropped on the people.
“If you look at the gas situation, the worst gas crisis in the country’s history is coming in December because these incompetents did not do gas deals in time,” he claimed, referring to the government. “They are unsuccessful in energy management even after three years.”
Iqbal said the current setup was actually “Riyasat-i-Mehngayee” (state of inflation) as opposed to Riyasat-i-Madina.
“Imran Khan plays the religious card only to pull a curtain on his incompetency and failures. Religion’s name is taken so he can hide behind religious sentiments and remain safe from criticism.
“Can leaders swallow foreign gifts in the state of Madina? The question doesn’t even arise,” the PML-N leader said, criticising the government over its reluctance to divulge details of gifts given to the prime minister.
Iqbal cautioned that the country stood on the edge of a crisis, saying if the current administration was not sent packing then “the country’s problems will become insoluble.”
“That is why the parties of the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) have decided that we will run a decisive movement and send these fake rulers home.”
The PML-N leader further said his political party was united and standing like a “strong cliff”, rubbishing reports of a “war of stances” within the party.
He alleged that the PTI’s media cell was responsible for these efforts and no heed should be paid to them.
On the subject of election reforms, he said the opposition had done negotiations at the parliamentary level and given recommendations, but the government had ignored them.
“They give statements only to fool the people. The reality is that all the consultation done with them in national spirit has been rejected by them.
“They just want a fascist agenda and that they are able to establish a scheme of electronic rigging through electronic voting machines because they know they can’t win through actual votes,” Iqbal alleged.
