KARACHI
Due to very serious and dedicated efforts of the chief of army staff there is a strong hope that the national economy would get better in the coming days and this momentum should be continued and sustained at every cost, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Sunday.
He said these efforts have achieved a lot as the valuation of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar is on the rise, while steps are afoot to check smuggling and hoarding of essential commodities. He said the previous political governments could have taken these steps but they sadly lacked this patriotism and instead focused on corruption and kickbacks.
Instead of serving the national interests, the economic hitmen of foreign powers sitting in these political parties looted the country with both hands. The shameful anti-people agreements with private power plants are an example of this economic hitmen approach of these elements.
Altaf Shakoor said the caretaker government backed by the establishment should continue the momentum to salvage the economy and check corruption and dishonesty at different levels. He said oil, wheat flour, fertilizer and sugar mafias are fully backed by all major political parties of Pakistan and a strong and decisive action is needed to nab these politically backed mafias. He said the national economy should be preferred to appeasing the vested interests of political leaders.
He said the debt trap should be broken at all costs as without getting relief from foreign loans and their interests that devour 80 percent of our resources nothing could be done for the betterment of the poor people. He said it is encouraging that the chief of the army staff is personally taking efforts to salvage the sagging economy and his efforts are also bearing fruits.
He said the Pakistani armed forces are not only the defenders of our geographical and ideological boundaries but they must also defend the economic boundaries of the country. They should create such internal mechanisms that the economic interests of Pakistan are also safeguarded on a permanent basis. In this era, safeguarding the economic interests of the nation are as important as defending its geographical boundaries.
He said action should be taken to the economic hitmen of foreign countries operating in Pakistan and who have marred our finances and made us economically enslaved. He said our economic sovereignty is badly compromised and we have to seek permission from the IMF even for a small relief to our electricity consumers. He asked what kind of independence is it, when we are practically ruled by the modern East India Companies.
He said the utmost focus should be on the economy and not politics. He said the political parties should also take heed and cooperate in efforts of the caretaker government to improve the economy.
He demanded to privatize all loss making state entities, catch electricity and gas thieves and their patrons, nab tax evaders, hoarders and black marketers and purge bureaucracy from corrupt elements.
He said corruption kings and mafia patrons sitting in different political parties should not only be unmasked but also punished severely. He said Pakistan needs a deep reform program in all sectors and the present caretaker government and establishment should continue their good work so that the poor masses could also get some relief.
