A stern response has been issued by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to the constant criticism the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has directed at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as the February 2024 elections approach, calling on its former coalition partner to accept their own responsibility.
It has been reported that the chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, calls the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) the “mehangai [inflation] league”,, asserting that during its 16-month tenure, the PML-N was solely and directly responsible for the rising prices – implying that the PPP had no responsibility for the rising prices.
As a result of the tenure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – a coalition of the Pakistan People’s Party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, as well as several other parties – that ended earlier this year, inflation skyrocketed, energy and fuel prices shot up to all-time highs, and foreign reserves were drastically reduced.
During their tenure, the PTI-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was in the streets protesting against the ouster of their government, which was also a result of the country being confronted with one of the worst economic crises and political turmoil. During this time, it was common to hear the phrase “Pakistan is going to default” a lot, but it was eventually swept under the rug when Pakistan was able to secure a short-term loan from the International Monetary Fund.
The former Minister of State for Petroleum during the PDM government, Musadik Malik – who was the host of Geo News’ program “Capital Talk”, slammed Bilawal for pointing the finger at the PML-N as responsible for the rising inflation and pointed out that all decisions during their 16-month tenure were collective.
Malik’s jibe at Bilawal came at the time when the country’s petrol prices were at new highs as the country was trying to secure a Russian oil deal, and the PPP chairman was aware of his authority to do so. But he was undermining him when he was trying to get the Russian oil deal.
“So, when I decided to finalize an oil deal with Russia under the portfolio of the minister of the Foreign Ministry, he referred to it as truck ki batti. Would you mind telling me what that was all about? His role should also be discussed as he should explain what he does. Did it fall on me to negotiate deals between Azerbaijan and Russia? When you were sitting in the United States, you said, “Truck ki batti, this is what we’re talking about.”. Wouldn’t it make sense if we had reached our destination having followed this truck ki batti? ” asked Malik.
Bilawal, then serving as foreign minister of Pakistan, said in a press conference held at the UN in December 2022 that there were no reports that Pakistan was seeking to import oil from Russia. This is nothing but truck ki batti,” he said — as Malik announced that an agreement had been reached with Russia to purchase “discounted” oil from them as a result of the deal.
As far as the history of Pakistan’s importation of oil from Russia goes, the country imported approximately two crude oil cargoes in June this year, but the previous ministers had clarified that while the cost was cheaper, it would take time for its effect to be felt by the general public.
According to Malik, Bilawal should refrain from criticizing his former coalition partners, pointing out that the PPP played a positive role in government as a whole during the time the party was in power.
In my opinion, sitting here and critiquing the actions of others isn’t a good thing. As far as I am concerned, the role played by the People’s Party was a good one. There were several stern decisions that had to be taken, and the People’s Party stood by us at every step of the way.”
According to him, this is an injustice and he added: In the future, I will ask what was the foreign policy of his country when he opposed the Russian oil deal, in the event that we start criticising one another. It is an irresponsible statement to make such a statement. In the past government, we worked collectively as a team. There were shared responsibilities between the two of us.
“They had the foreign ministry, the industry ministry, the climate ministry, and the commerce ministry. Hence, if anything in the industrial sector went wrong, it is because of them, rather than because of anything else. There were also trade deficits that were caused by these countries. There is no doubt that they are a part of it, but so are we as well. I think that this is a very unfair behavior, and they need to revise it.”
That news provided by timenews.
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