Daily Times

FAISALABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill has said that the government is committed to hitting ‘looters’ and ‘plunderers’ hard and opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif will not be allowed to skip the process.

Talking to journalists here on Sunday, he said that Nawaz Sharif staged a drama to bypass the law but now he stands exposed that his motive was not treatment in England but to save his skin from the rule of law. He said that Shehbaz Sharif was guarantor of Nawaz Sharif and now the government has decided that he would not be allowed to ‘flee’ Pakistan in any case.

He said that the motive of Shehbaz Sharif was also to save himself from the spectra of accountability. To a question as to why Nawaz Sharif is not being brought back to Pakistan through Interpol, he said that the government has already started working on it. He said Nasir Butt was staging a drama to malign Britain that people living there were not safe.

Shahbaz Gill said that this ‘family’ was in the habit of bringing bad name to the benefactors and supporters. “If they (Nawaz Sharif, etc) feel themselves insecure in London, we will provide them excellent security in Pakistani jail,” he said. The nation voted him (Nawaz Sharif) to power but he gave them the gift of price-hike and heavy burden of foreign loans.

Similarly, Nawaz Sharif was once a ‘blue-eyed’ personality of the establishment, but now he was opposing it by tooth and nail, he said, and made a humble appeal to the UK through Pakistan Embassy that Nawaz Sharif would bring a bad name for that country and its tourism industry might face a decline as Nawaz Sharif was projecting that London was an unsafe place.

He termed Sharif family ‘gobbles who were telling lies repeatedly’ so that people could believe that it was the truth. About return of Shehbaz Sharif in the past, he said that he came back as he expected that Imran Khan’s government will fail to handle the economy and he will be there to enjoy another chance of ruling the country.

About the PDM, he said that it was a dead horse. He expressed pity for Maryam Nawaz and said that despite her feverous efforts, the net result was zero. He said that Imran Khan took over the power in very ‘difficult’ situation. He was mandated to give deterrent punishment to looters and plunderers and sincere efforts of Imran Khan have saved Pakistan from economic collapse despite of corona lockdowns, he said.

“We are expecting four percent growth rate this year which is indicative of the fact that economy was on right track,” he said. He said that traditionally the government in Pakistan prefers compromise with opposition but Imran Khan remained steadfast and refused to give any NRO. After his refusal, the opposition became the ‘wilder’ and tried optimum best to ‘blackmail’ Imran Khan who is committed to take them to the logical end, he said.

He said that revival of economy was a great achievement of the government. “Our exports have increased after break of many years. Stock exchange surged 47,000 points. Similarly, current account deficit is now surplus with one billion dollar. National reserves which were only nine billion dollars are now jumped to 22 billion dollars,” he said, adding that the expats are sending record remittance for the last 10 months which played a major role in stabilizing the national economy.

He said that the government has decided to increase salaries in coming budget as the national economy is positive. About inflation, Gill said that the government was trying its optimum best to control the mafias and it was the first Ramazan when prices of tomatoes and onion remained lowest. “Only sugar mafia exploited the situation but the government made serious efforts to provide subsidized sugar to the masses through utility stores.”

He compared prices of different commodities and said that the government successfully handled the situation and minimum burden was put on the general public. Earlier, he also visited the residence of senior lawyer Abdul Hameed Cheema and condoled with him over sad demise of his son Israrul Mustafa Cheema. He offered prayers for the departed soul and patience of the bereaved family.