Says PTI onspiring against Pakistan; Govt can ‘consider’ importing edible items from India
Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail asked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra to resign and PTI Senator Shaukat Tarin to quit politics for trying to sabotage Pakistan’s interests after audio leaks of their conversation regarding the resumption of the crucial International Monetary Fund programme surfaced on Monday.
In one of the audio clips, that are being widely played on television channels, Tarin can be heard asking Jhagra to write a letter to the federal government to let it know that KP would not be able to commit to a provincial surplus in light of the recent floods that have wreaked havoc in Pakistan.
In the other audio, Tarin can be heard asking Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari to do the same.
Running a provincial surplus, which had been agreed to by all provinces earlier this year, was one of the key requirements for Pakistan’s IMF programme and the release of the loan tranche by the lender.
In his presser, Ismail referred to both the audio leaks as well as a letter Jhagra had written to him last week in which he conveyed his administration’s inability to provide a provincial surplus this year.
The federal minister alleged that Jhagra had sent the letter to the IMF before sending it to him.
“I checked with them (the IMF) within an hour [of receiving the letter] and they already had it.
Are we children? Am I mad? If you’re clever, can we not recognise it? And then you are defending it.
“Imran Khan should ask the nation for forgiveness. Taimur Jhagra should resign and Shaukat Tarin should quit politics. Is this why you do politics? ” he thundered.
He termed the PTI’s move the “most shameful thing”, saying that the real faces of the party leaders had now been exposed.
