Govt urged reject IMF package

LAHORE : Awami Mazahmat— an alliance of leftist parties, trade and worker unions, arranged a seminar against alleged austerity, inflation, privatisation and anti-people government policies of the government at Hamdard Hall, Lytton Road, on Saturday.

Eminent economists Dr. Pervaiz Tahir (Former chief economist, Government of Pakistan) and Dr Qais Aslam were specially invited to talk on “Pakistan’s Economic Crisis & Socialist Alternative”. Shazia Khan and Shahzad Arshad welcomed the guests and speakers and gave a brief introduction to the seminar, while discussion was opened up by Tariq Shahzad. He highlighted the current global and national economic crisis and discussed the way out to end the capitalist system of crisis and build an alternative economic model through a mass struggle of the working class, peasants, youths, students and women.

Dr. Qais Aslam said the government was shifting all economic burden of the self-created crisis on only 10 to 15 per cent middle class. “There has been a constant crisis which the Pakistani people have been facing for decades, but on the other hand, the ruling elite of the country is making money through the crisis. We should raise the question that where our tax money is being spent?” he added. Talking on the socialist alternative of the system, he said, “We need to build structures of our working class party to change the system,” he said and added that the syllabus being taught in our schools was outdated and had no relevance with the needs of the time.

Dr. Pervaiz Tahir said, “There is a ruling elite which has occupied and captured the whole system. It resembles the 1946 elections in united India, where only landlords and educated people had the right to vote. Direct taxes are very meagre which are levied on wealthy people but the high amount of indirect taxes is being collected from the poor. The IMF is a failed option to rescue our economy and a debt trap.” Talking about the alternative, he said that socialism had come again on the agenda of the masses globally and people were accepting it as an alternative economic model.

The seminar was followed by a question-answer session, where the speakers explained that the IMF package would result in increasing inflation, unemployment, privatization of government and national assets, the imposition of high rates of taxes, reduction in budgets for education and health sectors, elimination of subsidies and Rs750 billion new taxes. They demand the government immediately reject the IMF package, increase the minimum wage to at least Rs30,000, cancel the plan of privatization of government health and educational institutes, revoke the privatization of public institutes made in the past and give them to the democratic control of workers, work hours should be reduced so that more people could be employed instead of downsizing, education and health budget should be increased by imposing wealth tax on capitalists, landlords, feudal and multinational companies, all direct taxes including GST should be removed immediately, the agriculture sector should be subsidized, all energy production companies should be in public control, instead of spending money on war and weapons, the money should be spent on peace and harmony in the region and violence against the people should be eliminated.