Imran Khan again calls for early elections to avert ‘economic crisis’

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has once again called for early and transparent elections, saying that it was the only solution to avert the ‘economic crisis’ in the country, ARY News reported on Monday.

Addressing a press conference via video link, the former premier painted a bleak economic picture amid rising inflation and devaluation of Pakistani Rupee.

“The reason for my media talk is to make the people aware of the direction that our country is heading in. If we don’t raise our voice for early election, we will push out country into difficulties,” the PTI Chairman said, accusing some media outlets of turning a blind eye towards economic matters.

Imran Khan noted that he has summoned a meeting of his top economic advisors including former federal finance minister Shaukat Tarin, former federal commerce minister Hammad Azhar, Syed Muzammil, Omer Ayub, and other experts.

“I am not just addressing my supporters but also the institutions,” he said, adding that one part of the national security policy which his government had created, had one key part as the military and the other was economics.

While addressing the institutions, the former premier said all stakeholders should think where the country was standing right now. “When Soviet Union collapsed economically even its army could not save the country,” he noted.

He also questioned the business community for not raising their voices amid economic crisis, saying that it was the business community that was the worst affected due to the current scenario.

Imran Khan said during his administration, the Pakistan Economic Survey had noted that their tax collection, exports, agricultural production and remittances were at record levels. “Even, the overseas Pakistanis are not sending as much remittances which they were during the PTI tenure,” he added.

He accused the ruling coalition for the current economic situation, noting that for the past 30 years, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) only piled on the load of loans on the country, increasing them by a record level.

Imran added that today, we are being crushed under the weight of loan repayments and other payments such as the payments in dollars to be made to companies who came and set up power plants and other businesses.

He reiterated his call for early elections, saying that it was the only solution to avert the current economic crisis. “The economy will be stabled only after political stability”, he concluded.