Friday, March 29, 2024

The roar of an extraordinary price spike fills the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly

An unprecedented price spike, weak administration and failed economic strategy were blamed on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government by opposition parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday.

In his adjournment request, opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani stated practically all political parties, traders, transporters, attorneys, and ordinary people were protesting against rising food, fuel, medication, gas, and utility prices, but the rulers were mute.

And yet, he bemoaned, “Kaptaan Sahib (Prime Minister Imran Khan) says the administration is moving in the right direction.”

The opposition leader bemoaned the fact that impoverished people couldn’t afford sugar, ghee, wheat flour, etc. He stated the periodic increases in petroleum products had harmed the country’s middle-class and salaried inhabitants.

Inflation and price increases are out of control due to the IMF running the economy, he claimed. After eight years in KP and three years at the Centre, the PTI administration has no justification to blame past governments for the current condition of affairs, according to Akram Khan Durrani.

Inayatullah, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami parliamentary party, said the prime minister promised a relief package for the people while warning them of more increases in petroleum products.

He claimed the authorities would never be forgiven if they did not change their economic policies. According to the JI politician, the middle class is dwindling as individuals struggle to pay rising electricity bills, levies, and other necessities.

Inayatullah noted that prices of basic products and life-saving drugs had risen dramatically in the previous year and a half. He warned that if protesters took to the streets, police and security personnel would lose control.

Ikhtiyar Wali Khan, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in parliament, said the authorities had become puppets in the hands of the IMF and other international institutions.

He blamed bad economic policy for rising unemployment and joblessness, while the salaried class couldn’t afford basic necessities. The opposition’s Humaira Khatoon and Naeema Kishwar urged the administration should create jobs for educated and qualified people.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly recently enacted the Public Property (Removal of Encroachment) Amendment Bill 2021 to take legal action against encroachers and illegal occupiers. The session was adjourned due to a lack of quorum in the House.

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