KARACHI: Expressing serious concern over falling economic situation, the leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) warned here on Wednesday that the forex reserves of the country would deplete soon if remittances are not received swiftly.
In a statement, PTI central additional secretary general and former Sindh governor Imran Ismail, leader of opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh and economic expert Muzzamil Aslam, flanked by MPs Saeed Afridi, Ali Aziz GG, Shabbir Qureshi, party leaders Aminullah Moosakhel, Dr Masroor Siyal, Shoaib Khan, Abdul Razzaq Shujira and others said the economic crisis was deeping with every passing day.
Imran Ismail said that the present government was running from elections. He said that an institution had given report to the government that the PML-N could win 20 seats, PTI 63 seats and the PPP only two seats. He said after this report, the government was panicked and avoiding elections at all costs.
Ismail said he believed that local government polls in Karachi would also be delayed for the fifth time. He said the Sindh government was afraid of local government polls in Karachi and it had formed to separate systems for urban and rural areas.
He said they wanted to run Karachi through administrator. He said first Murtaza Wahab failed and they appointed Dr. Saif. He said Dr. Saif had served as his personal secretary and he was an honest man, but Karachi not only needed honesty but also an elected mayor.
He said imported containers were stranded at ports and banks had no money to retire LCs. He said exports had fallen drastically. He said textile and pharmaceutical industries were at the verge of collapse. He said the rates of wheat flour had been doubled. In Karachi, it is being sold at Rs200 per kilogramme, he added. He said there was no option but to hold fresh elections.
Leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh said that on the occasion of martyrdom ceremony of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, it was hoped that the government would unveil her killers, but in vain. He said previous day, Murad Ali Shah told a joke that Bilawal Zardari would become the prime minister.
He said Bilawal was visiting the world for his personal marketing but he was afraid to visit flood-hit Sindh. He said he could not see the misdeeds of the PPP government in Sindh during the past 14 years. He said old mafias were now active in Karachi. He said bandits were roaming free but the police were killing innocent citizens. He said the speaker had run away instead of facing resignations of PTI MNAs. He said Imran Khan after his recovery would visit Sindh as Sindh is our next political battleground.
