Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah said Saturday that Pakistan might witness a "disaster" if Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan forms government again.
The PTI chief was ousted in April 2021, becoming the first prime minister to be removed from office through a no-confidence vote. The then-opposition had blamed Khan for misgovernance and inflation, among other issues.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, addressing a ceremony in Faisalabad, urged the nation to identify the “man” — Khan — and exterminate him with the power of the vote.
Berating Khan, Sanaullah said that the former prime minister, under a plot, was spreading negative propaganda that the country would default.
The country has to face troubles due to the propaganda on the national and the international level, he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that during the week ended on December 30, 2022, the forex reserves held by the central bank, dropped by $245 million to $5.57 billion — the lowest level since April 2014 — down from last week's reserves of $5.821 billion.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, however, said that despite an uphill task, the country would meet its international obligations and not default.
Dar also sees Saudi Arabia and China beefing up their deposits in Pakistan "within a matter of days" and claimed that the forex reserves would see a rise gradually during the ongoing fiscal year.
The interior minister held Khan for the recent inflation in the country as the former prime minister had shattered the agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“The IMF is not interested in who the prime minister is,” Sanaullah said, adding that the international lending body asked them first to fulfil all the conditions agreed upon by the previous government and only then would it would help the country.
He held the former prime minister responsible for all the problems being faced by the country.
Recalling the PML-N-led government’s achievements, the interior minister asked: “When the country was moving forward, what was the need to bring Khan into power?"
Khan and IMF are the reasons behind the ongoing economic crisis in the country, the interior minister said.
IMF wanted the government to end subsidies and further raise the power tariff, however, PM Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are trying to put minimum burden on the masses.
He dared Khan to challenge him over his alleged audio leaks. The interior minister also dared Khan to call for a forensic audit of the audio leaks purportedly featuring him.
“If it [audio tapes] are proved false, then he should be supported,” said Sanaullah.
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