ISLAMABAD – Warning the PPP-led government of a “Tunisia-like” rebellion, the PML-Q has presented a five-point agenda to take the country out of the present crises.
Briefing reporters after meeting the government’s economic team on Wednesday, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Secretary General Mushahid Hussain said they had asked the government to control price hike, devise an energy plan, curb targeted killings in Karachi and Balochistan, eliminate corruption, and redraft the foreign policy.
Shujaat said, “We have given the government an agenda based on technical advice. We want the government to stop the flight of capital from the country and get back the money kept in foreign banks by Pakistanis. If this money comes back, the country will not have to seek loans from the IMF or the World Bank.”
He also asked the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) to publish lists of politicians and their family members who had their loans written off from successive governments since 1985. He said his party was “the only and true opposition”, which would not join the government.
Giving the outlines of his party’s agenda, PML-Q Secretary General Mushahid Hussain warned the ruling party of a Tunisis-like rebellion if the problems were not addressed immediately.
“People are sick of corrupt rulers and any minor incident can trigger a public rebellion,” he warned. He said his party had asked the government to adopt an “effective and do-able” price control policy to be implemented at the federal and provincial levels to provide immediate relief to the people.
“A comprehensive energy strategy should also be devised to harness all resources to make Pakistan self-sufficient in energy,” he added.
Mushahid urged the government to undertake efforts to stop targeted killings in Karachi and Balochistan immediately. “Peace in Karachi and Quetta is indispensable for the economy and country’s stability,” he observed.
He said if the government wanted cooperation from the opposition, it should desist from registering false cases against political opponents.
The PML-Q leader suggested that the government, in consultation with political forces, opinion leaders, the media, clerics and judiciary, should formulate an effective strategy to combat extremism and terrorism.
Mushahid said Pakistan must reorient its foreign policy focusing on the region to maintain peaceful relations with neighbours and resolve long-standing disputes like Kashmir.
“There is a need to give a healing touch in Balochistan to restore peace and win confidence of the Baloch people,” he said. Mushahid said the government’s economic team did not utter a single word about his party’s support for the controversial reformed general sales tax.
