Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Monday criticised the opposition and said that it was holding anti-government protests “just for the sake of it”.
Speaking to the press, he discussed civil-military relationships and said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa often hold meetings, therefore, a routine meeting was held today too.
“All the matters have been resolved,” he said.
About opposition’s criticism of the growing inflation in the country, Fawad said that, in Sindh, only the prices of wheat have been hiked but other essential items are being sold at reasonable prices.
“The Sindh government has released wheat into the open market today,” the minister said, adding that the entire world is grappling with inflation and Pakistan is no exception.
“We don’t live on another planet. If there is a worldwide increase in the prices of oil, then we will also witness a hike in the prices,” he said.
“There are no proponents of democracy in the opposition as they are always looking to strike political deals,” he continued.
The minister asked the opposition to come up with an alternative solution to curb the rising inflation in the country.
“The opposition has no organisational or economic policy in place,” he said, adding that anti-government parties should, first of all, take a look at their previous tenures and recreate a policy to steer the country out of problems before resorting to criticism.
“Merely lashing out at the premier will not get these parties anywhere,” Fawad said as he berated Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman.
“Fazal has no political standing anymore,” he said. “He only urges madrassa kids to join his political rallies, therefore, he should start a rent-a-crowd business.”
Fawad also invited the opposition to come forward and hold talks with the government regarding electoral reforms and other matters.
He said in a bid to give relief to the masses, the government has decided to offer subsidies on the prices of ghee, wheat, and electricity.
“However, the entire country could not be run on the basis of subsidies,” the information minister said, adding that the government has to pay back $12 billion instalment of debt taken by former regimes.
“Had those who are crying foul about inflation right now not taken such huge loans, Pakistan would have been in a much better position,” he said.
“We have to fight inflation together and the private sector should increase the salaries of the employees.”
