"I intervene in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because we have the PTI's government there," the premier explained, adding that if
the Centre intervened in Sindh, the provincial leadership "will make a fuss".
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday Karachi would have progressed if not for the ethnic politics of the 1980s.
PM Imran's comments came during a wide-ranging interview with Kamran Khan on
Dunya News.
Earlier today, Khawaja Izharul Hassan, a leader of the ruling PTI's coalition partner the MQM-P, had said a committee to resolve Karachi’s problems was not a solution.
It was reported late last week that the federal and Sindh governments had agreed on forming a committee comprising representatives of the city’s three main stakeholders — the ruling PTI, PPP, and the MQM-P — to address the metropolis' longstanding civic issues.
In his comments today, the premier said looking at the port city in its current state was painful. "The MQM-P founder spread hatred among people [of Karachi] and divided them; he harmed and wreaked havoc in Karachi.
"The situation in Karachi is dire," he added.
He said he has approached the courts on the issue of local government system in Sindh.
"I intervene in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because we have the PTI's government there," the premier explained, adding that if the Centre intervened in Sindh, the provincial leadership "will make a fuss".
"We are going to do whatever we can for Karachi," he vowed.
PM's 'struggle'
Speaking about his political career, PM Imran said his "whole life had been spent in struggle". "I was nine years old when I started this struggle," he added.
"Those who do not know how to struggle falter," the PM underlined.
Referring to the time he was voted into office, he said Pakistan was close to defaulting, the public institutions were destroyed and the rupee weakened.
"Depreciation of the rupee leads to inflation," he said, adding that the government was paying instalments for the loans the rulers of the past had obtained.
He said that while he was attempting to make the country a welfare state, the elites gathered and are trying to overthrow the government.
Power policy
With regard to power, the premier said electricity in Pakistan was costlier but sold at a cheaper rate, noting that "we are producing the most expensive electricity in the world".
If electricity prices had not been revised upwards, the country would have had to take loans, he noted.
A power policy is set to be introduced in a couple of weeks, he added.
COVID-19 response
Speaking of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the prime minister said many people talked about how he did not understand the crisis.
"Our party and the Opposition leaders kept saying that everything should be shut down during the corona [virus pandemic]," he noted. "A strict lockdown was imposed in Sindh; that was their [provincial government's] right after the 18th Amendment."
"We had to endure a month of criticism during corona," he said. "I told Bill Gates that we saved our lower class by imposing a smart lockdown," he added.
