Minister for Planning Development and Reforms Ahsen Iqbal said Monday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan wants to push the country towards a civil war by creating conflict among the masses.
Talking to media after addressing a seminar titled “Poverty, Consumption, Food Security and Nutrition in Pakistan”, organised by the Planning Commission, the minister said, “Such conferences will help the government in formulating appropriate policies to provide food safety, security and accessibility.”
He said the government was working on a development agenda to overcome malnutrition, adding that presently about 44 percent children in the country were malnourished.
The government is working to overcome future challenges of water, energy and food security, he added.
KHAN BASHING:
“The government is determined to take forward the negotiation process for settling all political issues whereas the PTI chief, despite being part of the system, is attempting to sabotage the system,” said the minister.
The minister said that Khan wants to “become the prime minister overnight” and also has an agenda to “defeat the government and its development policies”.
For this purpose, the minister added, Khan is continuing “politics of agitation” and has refused to come to the negotiation table despite the PTI leadership’s willingness to hold talks with the government and the government’s “daily” messages to PTI for the resumption of talks.
“Khan does not trust any institution of the country and thinks that the whole political leadership is corrupt and dishonest and he (Khan) is the only honest and pious leader in the country,” said Iqbal.
“Khan’s Plan A, B, C, D have only one purpose – how to make Khan prime minister overnight by waving a magic wand,” said Iqbal, adding that “this is not possible because to become the PM, it is essential to serve the people.”
Alleging that the PTI chief was conspiring against the mandate of Punjab Government, he said the Punjab government started the Metro Bus Projects with its own resources to facilitate the people whereas the PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has started the Peshawar Metro Bus Project with “foreign loans”.
Iqbal said that PTI’s call for closing commercial hubs of the country including Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi was not in the interests of the country, adding that it would damage the economy as about “80 percent domestic exports proceeds are generated from these cities”.
