‘Chaos party’ disrupting peace to get NRO for Imran: Atta

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture Attaullah Tarar said on Friday the national economy had not only stabilised but was also put on the road to progress despite Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s tactics to create disorder and chaos in country.

Addressing a press conference, he said the ‘chaos party’ [Tehreek-e-Inteshar] had announced a march on Islamabad again, as it was still sticking to its policy of creating disorder in the country. He said the ‘chaos party’ was hell bent on disrupting peace and tranquillity in the country by organising protests, just to seek concessions for its jailed leader, and added that they would get no NRO.

He lamented that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government was misusing its powers to suppress the rights of teachers in the province. The voice of KP teachers should be heard and their demands be accepted as the education system in the province was in ruins, he added.

He said on the one hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was striving for development and prosperity of the country, and on the other hand, the PTI was working on an anti-state agenda to damage national interests.

The information minister said the results of the Supreme Court Bar election was a manifestation of the legal fraternity’s support for the 26th Constitutional Amendment. He said that defeat of PTI-backed panels in the Supreme Court Bar Association elections had exposed the claims of its popularity. He alleged that the PTI leadership wanted Pakistan to default, but by the grace of Allah, Pakistan had come out of danger. They wrote letters to the International Monetary Fund, but Pakistan successfully reached an agreement with the IMF, he added.

The minister said the economic stability and growth had now started to benefit the common man. He said the price of wheat and flour and petroleum products had markedly decreased in addition to reduction in electricity tariff.

Currently, all economic indicators were positive and foreign exchange reserves had crossed $11 billion mark, besides enhanced foreign remittances, he added.

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was working day and night to improve economy and milestones achieved on the economic front were the outcome of his efforts. He said a United Arab Emirates delegation would be visiting Pakistan to discuss prospects for investment.

He said due to efforts of the prime minister, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar were investing in Pakistan, whereas Azerbaijan had also announced $2 billion investment in Pakistan. “The prime minister will leave for Saudi Arabia on November 10 to participate in the Riyadh Summit on the issue of Palestine. A detailed discussion will be held on the situation in the Middle East at the Riyadh Summit,” he added.

He said that PM Shehbaz Sharif had always raised the issue of Palestine and ongoing Gaza genocide at every forum including World Economic Forum and United Nations General Assembly. Tarar said the PM’s speech at the UNGA was the most watched speech worldwide as he had represented the sentiments of entire Muslim Ummah. He disclosed that PM Shehbaz Sharif would also participate in the meeting of COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The minister said that Pakistan cricket team’s historic victory against Australia in a One Day International match in Adelaide was encouraging.

Answering a question about Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections, he said in the past, the PTI had built a fake narrative of ‘absolutely not’ and now they were claiming the new US president would get Imran Khan released from jail. He ruled out any concession to the jailed PTI founder by stating that he had to defend himself in courts on corruption charges and there was no other way out for him.