Senior PML-N leader criticises govt over bloated cabinet

• Parliamentarians become stooges of establishment, Mehtab says.
• Requests IMF to ask for data of past expenditures from govt.
• Urges people to raise their voices against corrupt system.

ABBOTTABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Central Vice-President Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan on Wednesday criticised the enlargement of the federal cabinet for having over 80 people, saying "the country was politically unstable and economically weak yet the ruling elite was obliging blue-eyed people and ignoring genuine people", The News reported on Thursday.

Talking to the media after a gathering of the party workers, he told the journalists that the politicians and establishment are equally responsible for the current dire situation in the country.

Sardar Mehtab previously served as governor and chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during the PML-N government.

Former provincial minister Muhammad Ayub Afridi, Shamoon Yar Khan, Muhammad Shafique, Muhammad Ashfaq and other party workers and local leaders were present on the occasion.

Referring to the ongoing political condition of the country, he remarked that "it was a common practice that after winning elections, parliamentarians become the stooges of the establishment."

He asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation to request the government to share the details of all loans and expenditures during the last 20 years to fix the responsibility.

The PML-N leader opined that elections were not a solution to the prevailing situation and asked people from all walks of life to raise their voices to get rid of the corrupt political system.

The former governor also said that all the political parties stood exposed as they were responsible for the current dangerous situation in the country.

Mahtab went on to say that unfortunately, political leadership had made the country an "income-generating tool."

Criticising the current parliament, he termed it inactive and inefficient as half of the parliamentarians had already resigned. 

He stated that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) badly failed to deliver and was about to vanish from the political scene when the PML-N was brought into power to save the sinking boat of PTI.

PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif had strengthened the party throughout the country and he was still the symbol of unity whereas the current leadership of the party had objectives totally different from the vision of Nawaz Sharif, he added. 

Mahtab, however, advised the workers to accord a warm welcome to Maryam Nawaz as she was the daughter of Nawaz Sharif.

He said: "The party has been ruined in KP", and demanded immediate replacement of present leadership, claiming "that no one would get party tickets in forthcoming general elections if appropriate measures were not taken."

The PML-N leader asked the party workers not to blindly follow the leadership and raise genuine questions.