- PM defends government’s performance in televised address.
- Shehbaz slams PTI government for the economic damages.
- We cleaned up the mess of four years in 15 months, says PM.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assured the nation that his government will hand over the reins to an interim setup next month after the completion of their tenure.
“In August 2023, we will give responsibility to the interim government,” he said in a live address on Thursday.
The premier repeated the circumstances in which the coalition government — a group of 13 political parties — came to power in April 2022.
“[We] cleaned up the mess of four years in 15 months and doused the fire that had engulfed the economic and foreign relations front,” he said, adding that during their 15 months in power, the coalition government “saved the state, not politics”.
However, PM Shehbaz added that he is a firm believer that Pakistan can come out of the conspiracies it faces by working day and night.
Coming back to the previous regime, he said that the last International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme — signed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government — was in the way of economic recovery. “However, now the new stand-by agreement has been signed.”
A day earlier, the IMF approved a 9-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Pakistan for an amount of about $3 billion days after reaching a staff-level agreement with the country.
The premier also thanked China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for “sincerely” cooperating with Pakistan during its difficult time. PM Shehbaz added that his government has also developed a comprehensive plan for economic recovery.
He also said that in one-and-a-half years they were in power, they brought the country out of hopelessness and showed the light of hope. He added that it was a journey from unemployment to re-employment.
“It is the only coalition government formed for the shortest term,” the premier further said.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government, he said, is paving the way for investment from Gulf countries in agriculture, industry, energy and defence sectors.
“The confidence of the business and investment community is slowly being restored,” PM Shehbaz said and added that “now is the time to break the cycle of debt”.
“Let’s erase hatred, share love, become one nation,” appealed the PM. He assured that they will reduce inflation and bring employment like they did before.
