Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday criticised the incumbent government over the economic situation of the country.
Khan blamed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government for the looming threat of default and accused the media of not reporting about the economic situation of Pakistan, Dawn reported.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan accused the media of focusing on his ‘Toshakhana’ wristwatch, which he stressed was his right to “sell or do whatever” he wanted to do with it. He warned that Pakistan will be going into default if people do not raise their voices, as per the Dawn report. He made the remarks while addressing a press conference in Lahore.
“The reason for my media talk today is to make the people aware of the direction that our country is heading in,” Dawn quoted Imran Khan as saying.
“If we don’t raise our voice then Pakistan will experience something it has never before and we will default. All the funding from abroad will be stopped,” he added.
The cricketer-turned-politician began his press conference by comparing the performance of his government with the incumbent government whom he blamed for the looming threat of default. Imran Khan said that the “cabal of crooks” imposed on the people of Pakistan do not care about the economic situation and accused them of stealing money for the past 30 years.
“A default would mean the country’s income in dollars has stopped, and the rupee will devalue further. The cabal of crooks imposed on us doesn’t care about any of this,” Dawn quoted Imran Khan as saying.
“They have been stealing money for the last 30 years. They have stashed huge amounts of money abroad,” he added.
Furthermore, Imran Khan alleged that the ruling elite does not care if Pakistan defaults because “their money is stashed abroad in the form of dollars.” He called the situation of a default “worrying for a common man.”
Khan called default a huge loss for Pakistan and stressed that no investment will be back in the country. He stated that the dollar rate was Rs 178 when he left the post of Prime Minister and added, “today we can’t even purchase a dollar for Rs 250,” as per the Dawn report. He accused the media of ignoring inflation and focusing on a watch.
“The channels that used to bash the PTI government for inflation, those channels are quiet now and are instead focused on a watch,” he said.
“Today, the inflation is double and at a 50-year high. Where are those media houses now? No one cares about inflation now. No one believed us when we used to say that inflation was due to global reasons. When this cabal of crooks says the same thing, no one is questioning,” he added.