Shehbaz says PTI govt destroying Pakistan economy

LONDON: Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) President Shehbaz Sharif has said that now is the time to move on from the subject of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s extension from the two houses of parliament, to the real issues of the PTI government’s abysmal failure in areas of economy and governance.

Shehbaz was speaking to media outside the Avenfield flats after seeing off Hamid Karzai, the former President of Afghanistan, who called to pay a visit to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to inquire about his health.

Karzai and Afghan Ambassador to the UK, Syed Jawad, stayed with Nawaz and Shehbaz for an hour.

The former Afghan president told Pakistani media that he was “delighted” to meet Nawaz and was happy on the decision to come and see him personally.

“I am very happy upon meeting my good friend Nawaz and his brother Shehbaz. He’s in good health and has been extremely kind,” said Karzai.

Shehbaz said it was the PML-N’s unanimous decision to support the Army Act after a meeting of the party's stalwarts in London.

“It’s a fact that the PTI government had already issued an extension notification for General Bajwa and the Supreme Court of Pakistan had asked the parliament to carry out necessary legislation with a specific time frame. There was no hue and cry then at that time. There are precedents where extension was done without any legislation. Pervez Musharraf and other dictators gave themselves extensions but this time the parliament gave the extension and did the required legislation.”

Shehbaz said that it is now time to move on from the topic as discussing a non-issue will push back the real issues of the country. He said Imran Khan’s government deliberately created the extension issue through bad intentions.

“The real issues facing Pakistan are poverty, unemployment, joblessness and healthcare crisis. Nawaz did the historic job of development to deal with the economic crisis within four months. He will be remembered for the development work, improving economy and dealing with the electricity crisis.”

The former Punjab chief minister said that under the PTI government, all sectors of the economy stood destroyed and there seems to be no governance anywhere. 

“PTI promised to provide five million homes and 10 million jobs but instead millions have lost jobs and homes and the government has no plan. We believe that the country is today gripped in foreign loans. I don’t just blame this government but the fact is that they have broken the record of all previous governments. Pakistan has not seen anything like what has happened under the 18 months of the PTI’s government. Pakistan has not seen a bigger u-turn master and liar like Imran Khan who has destroyed the country's economy,” he said.