ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: Branding Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as ‘economic hit-man of the country,’ Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Thursday demanded his immediate resignation following approval of a corruption reference against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Speaking at a press conference focusing on the country’s economy, PTI chief along with senior party leader Asad Umar, called for immediate resignation of Dar in light of the NAB reference against him that the top anti-graft body has approved in light of the Panama papers case verdict.

“NAB is filing references against Dar and he must not hold any position unless the issue is resolved,” he said.

Khan and Asad Umar lambasted the PMLN government over its economic performance, claiming that Pakistan’s exports had dropped by 15% during the last four years as the overall exports dropped to $21 billion from $25 billion in 2013.

Khan said that the revenues were raised by the government by increasing taxes. They said that the circular debt had once again touched new peaks despite the claim that Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government cleared all the circular debt in 2013.

He maintained that to generate additional revenues the government imposed three new taxes on electricity consumers and three on the consumers of petroleum products.

He said that today national debt had reached Rs 10800 billion mark and during the past four years local and international loans had witnessed an increase of 30 percent.

The PTI chairman claimed that Pakistan was never so heavily indebted as it is today. He said the economy of the country has never been so weak that it is today. He said the PML-N government had damaged the economy of the country in a way that even enemies could not have done so.

“Dollars 30 billion is the deficit between exports and imports in the country, but there has been a lack of foreign direct investment despite the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” he said, citing that there was more investment in the country during Asif Zardari and Pervez Musharraf’s tenures. Criticising the ruling PML-N, he said, they kept claiming improvement and progress in almost all sectors during their tenure.

“There has been no investment. Direct taxation has not been made but they keep claiming that they have brought about development,” Khan said, adding that: “You need to bring your house in order first.”

The PTI chairman claimed the debt of the country increased by $18 billion after the PML-N government took power and external debt and liabilities increased to $80 billion in FY2016 -17.

He also claimed that tax revenue was only increased by the government through increase in taxes on basic good. “Ishaq Dar kept saying that tax revenue has increased.”

Imran also accused former chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue of sending billions of rupees to Dubai every month.

He said the performance of KP government was exemplary and impressive. He cited what he said landmarks achievements in reducing poverty, improving education and health sectors by the provincial ruling party. Khan claimed that his PTI’s KP government reduced poverty by 50 percent, brought reforms in education and health sectors, and introduced the most modern local body system in the history.

“Whenever you bring new reforms anywhere, the forces of existing status quo opposes and the same PTI is also facing in KP and rest of Pakistan,” he said.

Khan said that nowhere in the world, Member of National Assembly (MNAs) or Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) demand development funds because it is the job of the local governments. He said that MNAs or MPAs are for legislation.

“None of the democratic governments allowed local government system in the country,” he said, adding that these were only the dictatorial regimes that empowered and allowed local bodies to continue without hurdles. He said PTI government provided these funds down to the level of village councils.

The PTI chairman also vowed to directly elect district heads as the British people do. He said the election for district chairmen would be held on party basis.

Khan also criticized the global community over its silence on the issue of Rohingya Muslims, saying that people from all walks of life in Pakistan condemned the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

He also lashed out at the United Nations (UN) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) over their silence on the issue. He termed the oppression against Rohingya Muslims as ‘genocide.’ He said that it was disappointing to see the international community observed silence on the matter.

PTI senior leader Asad Umar said that the electricity shortfall in the country was 4000 megawatts in 2013 and it still goes up to 6000 megawatts when the temperature peaks. He said that the foreign reserves had fallen drastically during the last four months. He said that a drop of $4.2 billion had been recorded in the reserves since the end of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. He claimed that owing to current economic situation, the government would once again request IMF and other global financial institutions to provide loans so that the government could resolve financial matters without difficulty.

PTI leader said the government had failed to bring the foreign investment to the country. They compared Pakistan with0 the other major players in the region and said that Bangladesh and India had seen rise in their exports while Pakistani exports had seen a sharp decline, instead.

Asad Umar said that in past four years even Bangladesh’s imports had increased from $27 billion to $35 billion, while Pakistani exports had witnessed a decline from $25 billion to $21 billion. He said that investment during all the PML-N governments’ tenures remained low and at present foreign investment witnessed the lowest mark in the history of the country.