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What has the PTI delivered?

In two years babies can start walking but this fake regime didn’t even manage to sentence corrupt politicians and recover their loot in 2.5 years. On topic niazi only delivered destruction of economy and institutions.
Just from memory...

Free health insurance in KPK, Punjab and AJK.

New Single educational curriculum.

Shelter for the homeless/workers.

Introduction of state backed mortgages to allow affordable homes to be bought.

Successful handling of COVID.

Reduction in current account defecit.

Increase in exports.

Reduction in imports.

Increase in forex.

Electric vehicles policy.
-----

Here are some things they haven't done.

No London apartments for Imran Khan or cabinet.

No swiss bank accounts.

No off shore shell companies.

You are forgetting Billion Tree and Peshawar Metro.
 
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It’s been a long two and a half years of this hybrid rule, halfway to a normal parliamentary tenure. It is time to ask: what has the PTI delivered in this time?


Remember the hype created before Imran Khan was installed as prime minister? That every politician except him was corrupt but he was purer than driven snow. And his purity extended to all those who joined his party. That he made the ultimate sacrifice by giving up his jet-set life in Europe for us – the unwashed masses. That once he would do the favour of ruling over us, all our problems would vanish.


Usual patwari propaganda..

We were told that once the PTI came to power, our schools would become better. Have they?
We were told our hospitals would become better. Have they?
We were told our thana culture would improve. Has it?
Imran Khan was going to spend more on human development? Has he? He was going to provide jobs and homes. Has he?
He was going to convert government residences into universities. Has he?
He and his team were going to end VIP culture and stop using government ‘protocol’. Have they? Has Imran Khan done any of the things he claimed he would do to improve our lives? Can we point to even one area, just one area, where governance has improved?



Most of these things are being worked on but patwaris want change instantly but are not ready to do sh*t to reform.. on one hand demand all this and on other alligator's tears when questioned..


When the PML-N left the government, the combined income of all the Pakistanis was $312 billion. After two years of the current government, our combined income has been reduced to $264 billion. It’s rare in our history that our national income, even expressed in dollars, goes down. But the PTI has managed this feat.

Count loan in "Rupees" and GDP in "dollars" (not that it shouldn't be counted in dollars) just to make awam Chey... it wasnt Khan who kept dollar exchange rate artificially low and that too with 6 billion dollars of loan money 😐 now cry about all this 😄



In order to protect its hot money investors, the government raised interest rates to an absurdly high level thus killing our economic growth and creating the highest budget deficits in our history. Moreover, by running high inflation, especially food inflation, it has made it extremely difficult for working people to make ends meet. The high inflation and huge increases in utility bills have forced families to make unsavoury choices between parents’ health and children’s education, between food and rent, or between electricity bill or bus fare. A government that, through its callousness, corruption and incompetence, forces millions of our fellow citizens into poverty has no moral right to rule over us.

Food inflation didn’t just happen. It was created. Within weeks of coming into power, the PTI allowed a million tons of sugar to be exported. But within a couple of months of that, before even a kilogram of that export quota was utilised, the government again allowed another 100,000 tons of exports but this time with the proviso that provinces can give subsidy for exports.

Before even the minutes of this meeting were issued, the dutiful CM of Punjab chaired a meeting and allowed the subsidy. Only three industrial groups had substantial quantities of sugar at the time and, wouldn’t you know it, the two biggest sugar stockholders were both PTI bigwigs. At the time, the government said Pakistan had enough sugar stocks. But then this year it preposterously claimed that in May Pakistanis consumed five times as much sugar as they normally do, that is, instead of around 400,000 tons we consumed two million tons of sugar. All this was done so billions could be made off the people.

Last year, millions of tons of wheat were smuggled to Afghanistan and Central Asia from Punjab’s flour mills. This cannot be done except in connivance with the Punjab government. Moreover, 800,000 tons of wheat was made available for animal feed. Let’s be clear: prices of sugar and atta went up as a consequence of corrupt policies.

This year, Pakistan will only grow between seven and eight million bales of cotton. Cotton is the backbone of our economy. What has this government done to improve cotton production? Has it worked on developing new seed varieties or imported seeds suited to our environment? Has it worked on improving cotton yields or increasing the acreage planted? Is this even a priority for this government? We import billions of dollars worth of chickpeas, lentils and edible oil. Has this government even thought about working on policies to increase their production?

Khan Sahib claimed that he will not just stop incurring more debt but start paying back some debt. In the event, he’s taken more debt in two years than the PML-N did in five years. In fact, in just two years, the PTI has added 40 percent of all debt added in the last 70 years. And don’t let them fool you; they have not reduced Pakistan’s debt by even a single rupee. If any debt has become due, the government only re-rolled the debt by issuing yet more debt.

Imran Khan and Asad Umar had also promised to improve public enterprises. But today public sector losses are the highest they have ever been. Circular debt is the highest ever and increasing at the fastest pace ever. Gas has a new circular debt as the PTI’s spot deals for LNG are some of the most expensive in the world, certainly much more expensive than China, India and Bangladesh. Plus, there is gas shortage, and we are producing power with more expensive diesel and furnace oil. Is this what PTI supporters expected?

My one sentence here will not do justice to the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Pakistanis, but in two years the government has destroyed the Pakistani aviation industry, particularly PIA. Remember how the PTI played politics when the PML-N tried to privatise PIA and Pakistan Steel? The government hasn’t announced any plans to privatise Pakistan Steel which could preserve or even increase jobs, but is actually laying off people.

Imran Khan said he would end corruption. Whether in sugar, wheat flour, medicine prices, BRT Peshawar or the Billion Tree Tsunami, corruption seems to have thrived, in both the Punjab and federal governments.

So, the question is: after all the curbs on the media, all that happened before and during the elections, all the machinations with the courts, and all the strive in our body politic, which has certainly harmed our democracy and put our right to dissent on the backburner, what has this hybrid regime achieved? Is this the morning we were waiting for? Is this the Naya Pakistan promised to us?

Is today’s Pakistan more just? Is the government even working on legal and other reforms to make our society more fair and just? Are our children, particularly less affluent ones, getting a better education? Are poor patients getting free medicines? Is the economy progressing? Are jobs being created? Is inflation under control? Are exports increasing? Is Pakistan improving its relations with the Islamic or the Arab world? With Europe and America, or China?

What has the PTI done for Pakistan during its time in power? Are we better off today than we were two and a half years ago?

Miftah Ismail
The writer has served as federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs.

And wouldnt waste more time especially after seeing it is written by Miftah Ismail 🤣

Will an investor in US/EU judge Pakistan GDP in USD or PKR?? Stop being a dumb Patwari.
Lmao Investors in Us will also check all the previous records.. and check all the books in which your Miftah and Naju changed figures especially regarding IMF..

And GDP in dollar value went down thanks to Naju flooding market with loaned dollars..
Oh really?? Buy a choosni if you can't figure out the food data rightly.
Lmao choosni to patwario ko 5 saal di gyi... ab jab sar pe ai he to rona dhona shuru..
This paid patwari making you fool again. SBP is telling a different story altogether:

View attachment 701376
Again showing debt in RS. Yeah Investors in US will surely look at it in RS. Right 🤣🤣🤣:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Last edited:
.
It’s been a long two and a half years of this hybrid rule, halfway to a normal parliamentary tenure. It is time to ask: what has the PTI delivered in this time?


Remember the hype created before Imran Khan was installed as prime minister? That every politician except him was corrupt but he was purer than driven snow. And his purity extended to all those who joined his party. That he made the ultimate sacrifice by giving up his jet-set life in Europe for us – the unwashed masses. That once he would do the favour of ruling over us, all our problems would vanish.

We were told that once the PTI came to power, our schools would become better. Have they?
We were told our hospitals would become better. Have they?
We were told our thana culture would improve. Has it?
Imran Khan was going to spend more on human development? Has he? He was going to provide jobs and homes. Has he?
He was going to convert government residences into universities. Has he?
He and his team were going to end VIP culture and stop using government ‘protocol’. Have they? Has Imran Khan done any of the things he claimed he would do to improve our lives? Can we point to even one area, just one area, where governance has improved?

When the PML-N left the government, the combined income of all the Pakistanis was $312 billion. After two years of the current government, our combined income has been reduced to $264 billion. It’s rare in our history that our national income, even expressed in dollars, goes down. But the PTI has managed this feat.

In order to protect its hot money investors, the government raised interest rates to an absurdly high level thus killing our economic growth and creating the highest budget deficits in our history.
Moreover, by running high inflation, especially food inflation, it has made it extremely difficult for working people to make ends meet. The high inflation and huge increases in utility bills have forced families to make unsavoury choices between parents’ health and children’s education, between food and rent, or between electricity bill or bus fare. A government that, through its callousness, corruption and incompetence, forces millions of our fellow citizens into poverty has no moral right to rule over us.

Food inflation didn’t just happen. It was created. Within weeks of coming into power, the PTI allowed a million tons of sugar to be exported. But within a couple of months of that, before even a kilogram of that export quota was utilised, the government again allowed another 100,000 tons of exports but this time with the proviso that provinces can give subsidy for exports.

Before even the minutes of this meeting were issued, the dutiful CM of Punjab chaired a meeting and allowed the subsidy. Only three industrial groups had substantial quantities of sugar at the time and, wouldn’t you know it, the two biggest sugar stockholders were both PTI bigwigs. At the time, the government said Pakistan had enough sugar stocks. But then this year it preposterously claimed that in May Pakistanis consumed five times as much sugar as they normally do, that is, instead of around 400,000 tons we consumed two million tons of sugar. All this was done so billions could be made off the people.

Last year, millions of tons of wheat were smuggled to Afghanistan and Central Asia from Punjab’s flour mills. This cannot be done except in connivance with the Punjab government. Moreover, 800,000 tons of wheat was made available for animal feed. Let’s be clear: prices of sugar and atta went up as a consequence of corrupt policies.

This year, Pakistan will only grow between seven and eight million bales of cotton. Cotton is the backbone of our economy. What has this government done to improve cotton production? Has it worked on developing new seed varieties or imported seeds suited to our environment? Has it worked on improving cotton yields or increasing the acreage planted? Is this even a priority for this government? We import billions of dollars worth of chickpeas, lentils and edible oil. Has this government even thought about working on policies to increase their production?

Khan Sahib claimed that he will not just stop incurring more debt but start paying back some debt. In the event, he’s taken more debt in two years than the PML-N did in five years. In fact, in just two years, the PTI has added 40 percent of all debt added in the last 70 years. And don’t let them fool you; they have not reduced Pakistan’s debt by even a single rupee. If any debt has become due, the government only re-rolled the debt by issuing yet more debt.

Imran Khan and Asad Umar had also promised to improve public enterprises. But today public sector losses are the highest they have ever been. Circular debt is the highest ever and increasing at the fastest pace ever. Gas has a new circular debt as the PTI’s spot deals for LNG are some of the most expensive in the world, certainly much more expensive than China, India and Bangladesh. Plus, there is gas shortage, and we are producing power with more expensive diesel and furnace oil. Is this what PTI supporters expected?

My one sentence here will not do justice to the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Pakistanis, but in two years the government has destroyed the Pakistani aviation industry, particularly PIA. Remember how the PTI played politics when the PML-N tried to privatise PIA and Pakistan Steel? The government hasn’t announced any plans to privatise Pakistan Steel which could preserve or even increase jobs, but is actually laying off people.

Imran Khan said he would end corruption. Whether in sugar, wheat flour, medicine prices, BRT Peshawar or the Billion Tree Tsunami, corruption seems to have thrived, in both the Punjab and federal governments.

So, the question is: after all the curbs on the media, all that happened before and during the elections, all the machinations with the courts, and all the strive in our body politic, which has certainly harmed our democracy and put our right to dissent on the backburner, what has this hybrid regime achieved? Is this the morning we were waiting for? Is this the Naya Pakistan promised to us?

Is today’s Pakistan more just? Is the government even working on legal and other reforms to make our society more fair and just? Are our children, particularly less affluent ones, getting a better education? Are poor patients getting free medicines? Is the economy progressing? Are jobs being created? Is inflation under control? Are exports increasing? Is Pakistan improving its relations with the Islamic or the Arab world? With Europe and America, or China?

What has the PTI done for Pakistan during its time in power? Are we better off today than we were two and a half years ago?

Miftah Ismail
The writer has served as federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs.



The News and Miftah Ismael, what a killer combo of lies :lol:
 
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PMLN was producing cheaper electricity in spite of these agreements how??

Only handful of piolots were turned out to be fake, you have doomed entire aviation industry of Pakistan.
PMLN was producing cheaper electricity? No electricity was produced expensive but it was provided to people cheaply by subsidising it with loan money... which PTI refused as country cant run on loans forever...

And handful ? 🤣 1 in 3 pilots is handful right ?

And Aviation industry is struggling everywhere due to Covid but PIA was f*cked up by PPP through fake pilots and ghost workers..
At that time opposition grilled PPP/PMLN, should we not ask questions now??


Almost entire corrupt opposition and their cash boys

What about thieves sitting in government??


Handful?
[/QUOTE]
Senior advocate Salman Akram Raja, representing the Pakistan International Airlines, informed a three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed that PIA had cleared 110 pilots and cancelled the licences of 15, whereas 14 pilots had been declared to be unfit to fly. A few cases were pending decision, he said.
[/QUOTE]
1 in 3 pilots have fake license in Pakistan..
 
.
It’s been a long two and a half years of this hybrid rule, halfway to a normal parliamentary tenure. It is time to ask: what has the PTI delivered in this time?


Remember the hype created before Imran Khan was installed as prime minister? That every politician except him was corrupt but he was purer than driven snow. And his purity extended to all those who joined his party. That he made the ultimate sacrifice by giving up his jet-set life in Europe for us – the unwashed masses. That once he would do the favour of ruling over us, all our problems would vanish.

We were told that once the PTI came to power, our schools would become better. Have they?
We were told our hospitals would become better. Have they?
We were told our thana culture would improve. Has it?
Imran Khan was going to spend more on human development? Has he? He was going to provide jobs and homes. Has he?
He was going to convert government residences into universities. Has he?
He and his team were going to end VIP culture and stop using government ‘protocol’. Have they? Has Imran Khan done any of the things he claimed he would do to improve our lives? Can we point to even one area, just one area, where governance has improved?

When the PML-N left the government, the combined income of all the Pakistanis was $312 billion. After two years of the current government, our combined income has been reduced to $264 billion. It’s rare in our history that our national income, even expressed in dollars, goes down. But the PTI has managed this feat.

In order to protect its hot money investors, the government raised interest rates to an absurdly high level thus killing our economic growth and creating the highest budget deficits in our history.
Moreover, by running high inflation, especially food inflation, it has made it extremely difficult for working people to make ends meet. The high inflation and huge increases in utility bills have forced families to make unsavoury choices between parents’ health and children’s education, between food and rent, or between electricity bill or bus fare. A government that, through its callousness, corruption and incompetence, forces millions of our fellow citizens into poverty has no moral right to rule over us.

Food inflation didn’t just happen. It was created. Within weeks of coming into power, the PTI allowed a million tons of sugar to be exported. But within a couple of months of that, before even a kilogram of that export quota was utilised, the government again allowed another 100,000 tons of exports but this time with the proviso that provinces can give subsidy for exports.

Before even the minutes of this meeting were issued, the dutiful CM of Punjab chaired a meeting and allowed the subsidy. Only three industrial groups had substantial quantities of sugar at the time and, wouldn’t you know it, the two biggest sugar stockholders were both PTI bigwigs. At the time, the government said Pakistan had enough sugar stocks. But then this year it preposterously claimed that in May Pakistanis consumed five times as much sugar as they normally do, that is, instead of around 400,000 tons we consumed two million tons of sugar. All this was done so billions could be made off the people.

Last year, millions of tons of wheat were smuggled to Afghanistan and Central Asia from Punjab’s flour mills. This cannot be done except in connivance with the Punjab government. Moreover, 800,000 tons of wheat was made available for animal feed. Let’s be clear: prices of sugar and atta went up as a consequence of corrupt policies.

This year, Pakistan will only grow between seven and eight million bales of cotton. Cotton is the backbone of our economy. What has this government done to improve cotton production? Has it worked on developing new seed varieties or imported seeds suited to our environment? Has it worked on improving cotton yields or increasing the acreage planted? Is this even a priority for this government? We import billions of dollars worth of chickpeas, lentils and edible oil. Has this government even thought about working on policies to increase their production?

Khan Sahib claimed that he will not just stop incurring more debt but start paying back some debt. In the event, he’s taken more debt in two years than the PML-N did in five years. In fact, in just two years, the PTI has added 40 percent of all debt added in the last 70 years. And don’t let them fool you; they have not reduced Pakistan’s debt by even a single rupee. If any debt has become due, the government only re-rolled the debt by issuing yet more debt.

Imran Khan and Asad Umar had also promised to improve public enterprises. But today public sector losses are the highest they have ever been. Circular debt is the highest ever and increasing at the fastest pace ever. Gas has a new circular debt as the PTI’s spot deals for LNG are some of the most expensive in the world, certainly much more expensive than China, India and Bangladesh. Plus, there is gas shortage, and we are producing power with more expensive diesel and furnace oil. Is this what PTI supporters expected?

My one sentence here will not do justice to the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Pakistanis, but in two years the government has destroyed the Pakistani aviation industry, particularly PIA. Remember how the PTI played politics when the PML-N tried to privatise PIA and Pakistan Steel? The government hasn’t announced any plans to privatise Pakistan Steel which could preserve or even increase jobs, but is actually laying off people.

Imran Khan said he would end corruption. Whether in sugar, wheat flour, medicine prices, BRT Peshawar or the Billion Tree Tsunami, corruption seems to have thrived, in both the Punjab and federal governments.

So, the question is: after all the curbs on the media, all that happened before and during the elections, all the machinations with the courts, and all the strive in our body politic, which has certainly harmed our democracy and put our right to dissent on the backburner, what has this hybrid regime achieved? Is this the morning we were waiting for? Is this the Naya Pakistan promised to us?

Is today’s Pakistan more just? Is the government even working on legal and other reforms to make our society more fair and just? Are our children, particularly less affluent ones, getting a better education? Are poor patients getting free medicines? Is the economy progressing? Are jobs being created? Is inflation under control? Are exports increasing? Is Pakistan improving its relations with the Islamic or the Arab world? With Europe and America, or China?

What has the PTI done for Pakistan during its time in power? Are we better off today than we were two and a half years ago?

Miftah Ismail
The writer has served as federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs.
2 and a half years, only.
May I ask, what has nooras and peeplas has delivered during 15 years each terms?
 
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This was just a joke, but it seems a reality now, it would save at least 100 billion till now.
100 billion :rofl::rofl:
You are quoting fake/false stats.
In cities like Lahore and Rawalpindi, if gas is not available to run the heater, then Shahbaz Gill's eloquence will not satisfy the people.
And fake/false stats ? How so ? By showing loans in RS.?
 
.


Usual patwari propaganda..





Most of these things are being worked on but patwaris want change instantly but are not ready to do sh*t to reform.. on one hand demand all this and on other alligator's tears when questioned..




Count loan in "Rupees" and GDP in "dollars" (not that it shouldn't be counted in dollars) just to make awam Chey... it wasnt Khan who kept dollar exchange rate artificially low and that too with 6 billion dollars of loan money 😐 now cry about all this 😄





And wouldnt waste more time especially after seeing it is written by Miftah Ismail 🤣



Lmao Investors in Us will also check all the previous records.. and check all the books in which your Miftah and Naju changed figures especially regarding IMF..

And GDP in dollar value went down thanks to Naju flooding market with loaned dollars..

Lmao choosni to patwario ko 5 saal di gyi... ab jab sar pe ai he to rona dhona shuru..

Again showing debt in RS. Yeah Investors in US will surely look at it in RS. Right 🤣🤣🤣:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Grow up. GDP in USD is wrong but domestic debt in should be shown in USD 🤣🤣:rofl::rofl::rofl:
In 2018 Pakistan completed many projects.

1609326168327.png
 
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PMLN was producing cheaper electricity? No electricity was produced expensive but it was provided to people cheaply by subsidising it with loan money... which PTI refused as country cant run on loans forever...

And handful ? 🤣 1 in 3 pilots is handful right ?

And Aviation industry is struggling everywhere due to Covid but PIA was f*cked up by PPP through fake pilots and ghost workers..


What about thieves sitting in government??


Handful?
Senior advocate Salman Akram Raja, representing the Pakistan International Airlines, informed a three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed that PIA had cleared 110 pilots and cancelled the licences of 15, whereas 14 pilots had been declared to be unfit to fly. A few cases were pending decision, he said.
[/QUOTE]
1 in 3 pilots have fake license in Pakistan..
[/QUOTE]

Read again. PTI minister claimed that one third or 150 out of 434 Pia pilots have fake degrees while in reality only 15 pilots were fired. 14 were either died or retired.

100 Billion to just PIA and add the losses of Pakistan Steel.
 
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The thing that disappointed me the most is that we thought in PTI govt, all ex looters of PPP, PMLN, JUIF, ANP along with bureaucrats would be caught and the looted money recovered. Guess what, after 2 and a half years, not a single thief caught n money recovered. Even let the biggest looter nawaz escape. This govt is as pathetic as PMLN and PPP. Even most of the faces are the same, same pmlq, same hafiz sheikh, same old MPA and MNAs, same old corrupt bureaucrats. Same old rich friendly policies. Heck this moron couldnt even fix cricket which he claims to be an expert in.
 
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The thing that disappointed me the most is that we thought in PTI govt, all ex looters of PPP, PMLN, JUIF, ANP along with bureaucrats would be caught and the looted money recovered. Guess what, after 2 and a half years, not a single thief caught n money recovered. Even let the biggest looter nawaz escape. This govt is as pathetic as PMLN and PPP. Even most of the faces are the same, same pmlq, same hafiz sheikh, same old MPA and MNAs, same old corrupt bureaucrats. Same old rich friendly policies. Heck this moron couldnt even fix cricket which he claims to be an expert in.


Oh so you blame him for not fixing the mountain of shit the others left behind within a few years?
 
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The thing that disappointed me the most is that we thought in PTI govt, all ex looters of PPP, PMLN, JUIF, ANP along with bureaucrats would be caught and the looted money recovered. Guess what, after 2 and a half years, not a single thief caught n money recovered. Even let the biggest looter nawaz escape. This govt is as pathetic as PMLN and PPP. Even most of the faces are the same, same pmlq, same hafiz sheikh, same old MPA and MNAs, same old corrupt bureaucrats. Same old rich friendly policies. Heck this moron couldnt even fix cricket which he claims to be an expert in.
PM Imran Khan is not judge, jury and executioner. Corruption cases takes years to finish. It's the slow moving judicial process in Pakistan that's the problem here not PM Imran Khan
Oh so you blame him for not fixing the mountain of shit the others left behind within a few years?
Yeah Bughaz Imran knows no bounds
 
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Oh so you blame him for not fixing the mountain of shit the others left behind within a few years?

I blame him for not even trying to remove a pebble from the mountain of shit the ex looters left behind. Even after he promised removing mountains of shit, he cudnt remove a pebble in 2 and half years. Apart from nawaz, which imran khan let go, other looters are in Pakistan, all thief ministers, advisors, MNAs , MPAs, bureaucrats that helped looters and did corruption all are here thriving in Pakistan and this idiot even after tall claims didn't manage to catch any single one decisively. Same hafiz sheikh running economy that ran economy for zardari, same old lotas same old bureaucrats. So pardon me if am not dumb stupid gullible like the rest.
PM Imran Khan is not judge, jury and executioner. Corruption cases takes years to finish. It's the slow moving judicial process in Pakistan that's the problem here not PM Imran Khan

Yeah Bughaz Imran knows no bounds

Why make tall claims then?? Also atleast move towards the goal, he is instead taking Uturns and saying its a good thing. Same old amnesty schemes for ricj, tax break for rich, pardons for bureaucrats, plea bargains for rich looters. Come on man, u guys are new version of patwaris and jiyalas, who blindly follow their parties. Which court stopped him from fixing cricket? Who stopped him from converting those govt places into unis and libraries?? Who stopped him from ending protocols and expenses of ministers and bureaucrats???
 
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Fcuk PDM aka Pakistan Destructive Movement of thugs, sick and tired of thier constant bulshit and lies of Noon league,

My whole family used to support them but not anymore and never will.

The band of thugs are solely responsible for Pakistan's misery.
 
.
It’s been a long two and a half years of this hybrid rule, halfway to a normal parliamentary tenure. It is time to ask: what has the PTI delivered in this time?


Remember the hype created before Imran Khan was installed as prime minister? That every politician except him was corrupt but he was purer than driven snow. And his purity extended to all those who joined his party. That he made the ultimate sacrifice by giving up his jet-set life in Europe for us – the unwashed masses. That once he would do the favour of ruling over us, all our problems would vanish.

We were told that once the PTI came to power, our schools would become better. Have they?
We were told our hospitals would become better. Have they?
We were told our thana culture would improve. Has it?
Imran Khan was going to spend more on human development? Has he? He was going to provide jobs and homes. Has he?
He was going to convert government residences into universities. Has he?
He and his team were going to end VIP culture and stop using government ‘protocol’. Have they? Has Imran Khan done any of the things he claimed he would do to improve our lives? Can we point to even one area, just one area, where governance has improved?

When the PML-N left the government, the combined income of all the Pakistanis was $312 billion. After two years of the current government, our combined income has been reduced to $264 billion. It’s rare in our history that our national income, even expressed in dollars, goes down. But the PTI has managed this feat.

In order to protect its hot money investors, the government raised interest rates to an absurdly high level thus killing our economic growth and creating the highest budget deficits in our history.
Moreover, by running high inflation, especially food inflation, it has made it extremely difficult for working people to make ends meet. The high inflation and huge increases in utility bills have forced families to make unsavoury choices between parents’ health and children’s education, between food and rent, or between electricity bill or bus fare. A government that, through its callousness, corruption and incompetence, forces millions of our fellow citizens into poverty has no moral right to rule over us.

Food inflation didn’t just happen. It was created. Within weeks of coming into power, the PTI allowed a million tons of sugar to be exported. But within a couple of months of that, before even a kilogram of that export quota was utilised, the government again allowed another 100,000 tons of exports but this time with the proviso that provinces can give subsidy for exports.

Before even the minutes of this meeting were issued, the dutiful CM of Punjab chaired a meeting and allowed the subsidy. Only three industrial groups had substantial quantities of sugar at the time and, wouldn’t you know it, the two biggest sugar stockholders were both PTI bigwigs. At the time, the government said Pakistan had enough sugar stocks. But then this year it preposterously claimed that in May Pakistanis consumed five times as much sugar as they normally do, that is, instead of around 400,000 tons we consumed two million tons of sugar. All this was done so billions could be made off the people.

Last year, millions of tons of wheat were smuggled to Afghanistan and Central Asia from Punjab’s flour mills. This cannot be done except in connivance with the Punjab government. Moreover, 800,000 tons of wheat was made available for animal feed. Let’s be clear: prices of sugar and atta went up as a consequence of corrupt policies.

This year, Pakistan will only grow between seven and eight million bales of cotton. Cotton is the backbone of our economy. What has this government done to improve cotton production? Has it worked on developing new seed varieties or imported seeds suited to our environment? Has it worked on improving cotton yields or increasing the acreage planted? Is this even a priority for this government? We import billions of dollars worth of chickpeas, lentils and edible oil. Has this government even thought about working on policies to increase their production?

Khan Sahib claimed that he will not just stop incurring more debt but start paying back some debt. In the event, he’s taken more debt in two years than the PML-N did in five years. In fact, in just two years, the PTI has added 40 percent of all debt added in the last 70 years. And don’t let them fool you; they have not reduced Pakistan’s debt by even a single rupee. If any debt has become due, the government only re-rolled the debt by issuing yet more debt.

Imran Khan and Asad Umar had also promised to improve public enterprises. But today public sector losses are the highest they have ever been. Circular debt is the highest ever and increasing at the fastest pace ever. Gas has a new circular debt as the PTI’s spot deals for LNG are some of the most expensive in the world, certainly much more expensive than China, India and Bangladesh. Plus, there is gas shortage, and we are producing power with more expensive diesel and furnace oil. Is this what PTI supporters expected?

My one sentence here will not do justice to the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Pakistanis, but in two years the government has destroyed the Pakistani aviation industry, particularly PIA. Remember how the PTI played politics when the PML-N tried to privatise PIA and Pakistan Steel? The government hasn’t announced any plans to privatise Pakistan Steel which could preserve or even increase jobs, but is actually laying off people.

Imran Khan said he would end corruption. Whether in sugar, wheat flour, medicine prices, BRT Peshawar or the Billion Tree Tsunami, corruption seems to have thrived, in both the Punjab and federal governments.

So, the question is: after all the curbs on the media, all that happened before and during the elections, all the machinations with the courts, and all the strive in our body politic, which has certainly harmed our democracy and put our right to dissent on the backburner, what has this hybrid regime achieved? Is this the morning we were waiting for? Is this the Naya Pakistan promised to us?

Is today’s Pakistan more just? Is the government even working on legal and other reforms to make our society more fair and just? Are our children, particularly less affluent ones, getting a better education? Are poor patients getting free medicines? Is the economy progressing? Are jobs being created? Is inflation under control? Are exports increasing? Is Pakistan improving its relations with the Islamic or the Arab world? With Europe and America, or China?

What has the PTI done for Pakistan during its time in power? Are we better off today than we were two and a half years ago?

Miftah Ismail
The writer has served as federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs.
Just to name a few:

1) Diamer Bhasha & Mohmand Dams construction started. Though Musharaf did the inauguration of Basha Dam & Nawaz Shareef worked on land acquisition, nothing was actually completed. They both failed to initiate the construction of the project which the PTI Government actually started.

2) Cancer Hospitals: KP Shaukat Khanum is operational.For Sind, the cancer hospital is under construction in Karachi. Cancer is one of the challenges for Pakistan.

3) Foreign policy and handling of the February episode with India was handed better by Imran Khan. There wasn’t even a foreign minister in Nawaz Shareef’s last term because he was silent on Indian sponsored terrorism in Pakistan.

I let you research the rest. The trend is positive. Yes, I pay more for groceries in the US too since the pandemic and prices have gone up 50% in the last year or so. That is a global trend
@muhammadhafeezmalik
 
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