ISLAMABAD - Former Interior Minister and Chairman Institute of Research and Reforms Rehman Malik has said that real problem of Pakistan is frequently rising poverty and inflation.

In a statement, he said that the real problem of the poor man is poverty and inflation which is increasing day by day and he has nothing to do with the electronic voting machine on which both government and opposition are playing their politics at the moment. “I want to advise the opposition and the government to pay attention to problems of the poor and devise a strategy to mitigate their sufferings. Issues like EVMs should be resolved in Parliament,” he said.

He said that democracy means serving the people but it looks like Pakistani politics doesn’t solve problems of a poor man. He said the public should not be forced to come on roads otherwise there will be no way both for government and opposition. Senator Rehman Malik said that rupee was depreciating day by day and the prices of petroleum products had been increased by Rs 5 per litre on Thursday which will have the biggest impact on the life of a poor man. He said that he had been saying for many years that the value of the rupee could fall to dangerous levels so the government should take necessary steps but unfortunately today the value of rupee has reached Rs 170 per dollar. He said that he had said in 2019 that if necessary steps were not taken, the value of rupee could fall to 170 per dollar. 

The former interior minister said, “It has always been our problem that we do the right thing on the wrong time and the wrong thing at the right time; this is the time to end inflation and eliminate poverty rather than to raise a hue and cry over EVM.”

He said that both opposition and the government should sit together and discuss EVM in Parliament and find a legal solution. He said that decision of EVM could not be taken only by the government but the government would have to take the opposition into confidence. Rehman Malik said that he was the one who introduced EVM first in Pakistan because he had asked the then chairman NADRA to research EVM. “Our government rejected the EVM because the six countries that had used it rejected the results,” he said.

He said that EVM would transmit election results through the internet which is not secure and we already have the experience of RTS. He said that the government should not rush into Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) but should work with the opposition to find a solution through mutual understanding.

Senator Malik said that at present Pakistan is facing various national and international challenges so the opposition and the government should be vigilant and united on national issues. 

Responding to a question, Rehman Malik said that he has no differences with his leadership. He said that party leadership wanted to see him in National Assembly but he had set aside some time to write books so that the coming generation would be kept informed of the facts of the past and untold history. Responding to another question on Afghanistan, he said that Pakistan had played and will continue to play a positive role towards peaceful Afghanistan but the Taliban government should accept per the will of the international community to avoid further diplomatic isolation. He said the Taliban government should address concerns of international community regarding human and women’s rights.