Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PTI stalwart Omar Ayub Khan said on Saturday that the government did not have any realization that how bad the country’s situation was, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Speaking to the media in Lahore, he made it clear to the government that it could no longer stifle people’s voices. “Resolve people’s issues or otherwise, the situation will get even worse,” he warned.
Omar said only recently he had gone to Gwadar. “The situation there is quite worrying. People from Punjab cannot go there. They are shot dead at sight,” he said, adding, “There are eight to 10 districts in Balochistan where neither the Pakistani flag can be hoisted nor the national anthem is sung.”
The PTI leader further said he saluted those party workers and supporters who came out on the streets on the former prime minister Imran Khan’s call despite a ruthless government crackdown. “You just cannot stifle dissent at gunpoint.”
He said that PTI leader Aliya Hamza had filed an application, seeking permission for a public gathering in Lahore on February 8. “But the Punjab government is reluctant to give us a go-ahead signal,” he lamented.
The opposition leader went on to say that inflation would increase in days to come. “And unfortunately the government does not have any solution to the problem.”
Omar said it was unfortunate that PTI stalwarts Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were not being released from jail. “They are all political prisoners,” he added.
Rubbishing the government’s claim that foreign investors were coming to Pakistan, he said the arrival of just one businessman from abroad did not mean that investors were thronging the country. “Look at the flight of around two million people from the country.”
The PTI leader said that the purpose of the PECA was to target journalists and the PTI workers and sympathizers.
He said it was wrong to say that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was a democrat. “It is a hypocrisy. The truth of the matter is that the PPP supported the government by voting in the favour of the PECA,” he said, adding, “Certainly, there is no democracy in the country.”