PTI flays PM for squandering public money on travel

LAHORE

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central leader Dr Yasmin Rashid has criticised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for returning home on a 777 Boeing chartered flight by spending some Rs200 million from the taxpayers’ hard-earned money.

Dr Yasmin also appealed the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo mottu of extravagant spending of taxpayers’ money.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Dr Yasmin Rashid, also the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ticket holder from NA-120, quoting a senior Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf official as saying that the 200 LR (long route) plane had a 280 seats capacity, including 35 business class seats. She said the operational cost of the Boeing was Rs30,000 per minute that stood at Rs28.8 million on return flight from Lahore to London and back. While calculating the revenue generated from cargo and 280 seats at flight’s original route, she said, the total loss stood at over Rs200 million – to be met from taxpayers' money. 

Has the Parliament given permission to the prime minister to spend this much on his return with entourage? she asked.

She said the cabinet ministers had also spent millions from public money to get to London to seek the prime minister’s advice.

She said that it was unfair on part of the head of the country to disturb a fully-booked 777 Boeing flight PK-711 and 560 passengers by putting them on wait for 24 hours.

She denied PIA spokesman’s statement that no operational flight was disturbed. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central leader and core committee member said the prime minister had frittered away millions of rupees for his surgery that could have been easily performed in Pakistan.

“If the prime minister does not have confidence in Pakistani doctors, he should have stayed in London to meet any kind of emergency in the days to come,” she said.

Dr Yasmin said that there was a tremendous resentment among the people of Pakistan, particularly the taxpayers, about how Nawaz Sharif and his family used the taxpayers’ money for their personal needs.

She demanded that the prime minister explain why he disturbed the scheduled flight of 560 passengers and who permitted him to use such a huge money to use PIA aircraft for his personal chartered flight.

If there is a medical emergency in Pakistan, will he again use the Pakistan International Airlines aircraft to take him to London for treatment? she asked