Dubs Imran ‘crisis of this century’; Hammad claims Opposition responsible for economic problems
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari lashed out at the PTI government in the National Assembly on Wednesday, saying it was bringing a “tsunami of taxes” through the mini-budget.
The burden of the PTI government’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund would fall on the common man, Bilawal said, warning that it would lead to “economic slaughter” across the country.
He also criticised the government over the State Bank of Pakistan Amendment Bill 2021, which was approved by a National Assembly panel on Monday, saying that the IMF had demanded the central bank’s autonomy during the eras of PPP and PML-N as well but neither party had agreed.
Bilawal Bhutto dubbed Prime Minister Imran Khan as the “crisis of this century”. He said: “There is a crisis in every century and the crisis of this century is Imran Khan.”
He said Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had talked about a national dialogue on the country’s economy but the government refused because of its “stubbornness”.
“The people of Pakistan can see what happens as a result of your decisions,” the PPP leader said. Bilawal said that people would not forgive this government for inflicting economic miseries on them. “They will take you to the task for doing all this to them,” he warned the rulers.
Bilawal said the government could have used the opposition’s rigidity on the matter to inform the IMF of its inability to accept its demands.
“But because of your stubbornness and ego, you took decisions that are a robbery of the common man’s pockets,” he lambasted.
He said the government was presenting a new budget with a new finance minister — referring to Shaukat Tarin who was reappointed last month — at a time when Pakistan was seeing “bad economic indicators never seen previously”.
“You’ve broken all records of negative growth, inflation, increase in poverty and unemployment rates. When we say this isn’t tabdeeli (change) but destruction, we’re telling the truth. You cannot be entitled to your own facts.”
Bilawal noted that at the time of presenting the budget for FY22 in July, the government had promised that the country’s economic progress would start henceforth, there would be financial prosperity and no new taxes or mini-budget would be introduced.
“Now, we are in January and they (government) are bringing a tsunami of taxes through the mini-budget. You don’t need to be an economic expert to understand that if taxes of Rs350 billion are imposed, inflation will increase,” he added.
Questioning why national representatives were not part of the government’s decisions, he commented: “Those who form the government because of others have to look to them, they don’t care about the worries of the people.”
The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had shown the PTI a “small trailer”, he said referring to the ruling party’s dismal show in recently held local bodies elections.
Bilawal also spoke at length about the proposed taxes in the mini-budget. “The people who talked about being leaders of youth and making Pakistan a modern state and taking us toward e-governance […] now the youth will have to bear the burden of the taxes being levied by Imran Khan on our computer, internet, mobiles and phone calls.”
Former chief minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif had distributed laptops free of cost while the PTI government was imposing taxes, he said, asking where the youth should go when taxes were being imposed not only on imported devices but those made locally as well.
The government had also attacked agriculture, the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, through the mini-budget, Bilawal added. He said the government was also proposing the imposition of taxes on charities, goods imported for the United Nations relief efforts as well as items sent in the aftermath of calamities and disasters.
