DERA GHAZI KHAN - Opposition Leader in the National and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif strongly criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government over rising inflation in the country and warned that sea of people is ready to overthrow the PTI-government. “The sea of people is a testament that your [PM Imran] time is up. You have made the lives of masses miserable with the back-breaking inflation and rising poverty,” Shehbaz said while addressing a rally at DG Khan in South Punjab on Sunday.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of the opposition parties, has launched anti-government rally in big cities of the country, demanding PM Imran Khan to step down.
Shehbaz, who represented his PML-N party on Sunday, said the last PML-N’s tenure with the incumbent government was an era of development and economic progress. He claimed former premier Nawaz Sharif built a number of public welfare projects in South Punjab. “We built Danish schools across South Punjab under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif.” He also hospitals and universities were also built in various districts of the southern region of the province.
The PML-N president said during the three-year tenure of the PTI government not a single project has been established in South Punjab. Shehbaz said prices of essential commodities have increased manifold and the poor are unable to afford one square meal a day.
Quoting the Transparency International report, Shehbaz said that corruption has increased in the country during the tenure of the PTI government.
He said PM Imran would label former rulers as “thieves” when prices of petrol and other commodities were increased. “But now petrol and electricity bombs are being dropped on people frequently,” he added.
Shehbaz while rejecting the government’s claims that the economy of the country is progressing said that the rate of inflation is highest in Pakistan compared to the other countries in the region. “The PTI government has handed over Pakistan to the IMF,” he alleged. “This night is not long... stand up and under the leadership of Maulana Fazl ur Rehman [PDM chief] take to the streets against inflation and remove the incumbent government,” Shehbaz said
Opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) held protest rally in Dera Ghazi Khan with a focus on protesting the rising inflation in the country.
PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and other opposition leaders addressed the rally besides other leaders.
Speaking on this occasion, JUI Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the country is on the verge of collapse due to the negligence of the present rulers. He said the people are facing worst kind of inflation due to the inefficiency of the government. Fazl also said the rulers are incompetent and they are unable to run the affairs of the country. Senior PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said that the government has failed and that it has made it difficult for the poor and middle class to live. Sanaullah said that inflation is likely to increase even more in the coming days.
On October 22, the opposition alliance had kicked off its protest drives against the recent price hikes in the country. Protest rallies were held in major cities like Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and others.
Ahead of the anti-government alliance’s DG Khan rally, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said it will be a “public referendum against the tyrannical government”.
In her statement, Aurangzeb said that the people of Pakistan have understood that “getting rid of Imran sahib is the only way to get rid of inflation”. Preparations for the opposition alliance’s DG Khan rally have been completed, she confirmed, sharing that the rally will focus on the “historic” inflation, unemployment and economic catastrophe in Pakistan. The PML-N spokesperson confirmed that opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif and other PDM leaders will address the rally.