The government on Monday said the masses had rejected the opposition parties in general elections of 2018 due to their corruption and lacklustre performance. Shortly after PML-N leaders wrapped up their press conference, Information Minister Shibli Faraz and Minister for Industries and Productions Hammad Azhar held their own presser in Islamabad to respond to the claims made by the opposition. “PML-N’s comments seem hollow and lack substance for the government to give a detailed response. However, it is our responsibility to address some of the things they said so that the reality can be presented to the people,” Shibli Faraz said. Faraz said economic policies introduced by PML-N in the past adversely affected the national economy, rendering local industrial production unviable and making Pakistan an ‘importing country.’ “Shehbaz Sharif has spoken as though he has come from another country. The reality is that they are responsible for all the things that they mentioned,” he said. “The issues found in the country, including problems with education, health and the country’s overall system, they are the ones responsible for it,” he said, adding that these were the same people who were now trying to sympathise with the citizens. “All of these issues, including inflation, don’t just happen overnight. They patronised groups taking advantage of the country during their tenures and sucked the blood of the people,” the minister said. “They had a one-point agenda, which was to make as much money they could. And they used every department to facilitate this [agenda],” he added. He said the opposition’s claims of the government working for the ‘elite’ are laughable. “All the projects that the premier has launched are for the welfare of the poor and the middle class,” he said, quoting the example of the health cards distributed in KP and the launch of the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit project.