ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman yesterday said the federal ministers were busy targeting the opposition rather than performing their jobs. 

The PPP leader said on the one hand Prime Minister Imran Khan was saying that the government had decided to use all resources against inflation in the country and on the other, he was using the services of political volunteers of a ‘Tiger Force’ for the identification and management of hoarders.  

“Are local government administrators not competent enough to handle this? How are executive functions of the govt being passed on to an army of political volunteers, with no training, credentials or legitimacy in the law to police the functions of the market,” questioned the PPP Parliamentary Leader in the Senate. 

In a statement, the lawmaker said asking a politically tagged force to monitor and check the prices of food and other items in the existence of a full government was a recipe for rampant abuse of casually bestowed powers. 

“This is the job of ministers and district administrators; if the cabinet cannot see this they should resign and sit home, considering now they have passed executive authorities illegally to volunteer vigilante gangs called the Tiger Force,” she added.

Sherry Rehman said instead of doing their jobs, ministers were busy targeting the opposition. “In the past two years, PM has taken notice of the increasing inflation 11 times and yet we are still at the same place. Or is this also the responsibility of previous governments,” she said.

Blaming opposition can’t be a substitute for mismanagement nor can it disguise their colossal failures to unite country in crisis

The PPP leader said Pakistan was going through the worst inflation, economic and unemployment crisis ever and “we are yet to see any action on it. PM does not need to go too far to search for hoarder mafias as they are present in his own government. He can identify them without the help of Tiger Force too.”

She said it was shocking that basic everyday necessities were beyond one’s reach now. “Government employees are protesting over their salaries, our healthcare system has collapsed, sectarian violence is on the rise, Motorway rapist is still not caught, women and children are not safe. Is this the Naya (new) Pakistan that was promised,” she added.

The senator said using the Tiger Force to do the government’s job was a clear reflection of the complete failure of governance. “Under what authority is the Tiger Force being directed to regulate the prices? What is their legal status? Is the ECC and National Pricing Monitoring Committee not capable enough to do their work,” she asked.

Sherry Rehman said it was clear that this government had no action plan and it is high time that they stop hiding behind their incompetence. 

“Blaming the opposition cannot be a substitute for mismanagement nor can it disguise their colossal failures or political inability to unite the country in crisis. The federal government needs to face up to the  hard reality that its job is governance, not container politics, so it should stop relying on politically partisan volunteers to monitor inflation,” she maintained.