File photo. Aamir Qureshi—AFP
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi blames P.M. Imran Khan for record-setting inflation
Pakistan cannot progress in the current environment, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Thursday during a visit to Karachi.
Part of a delegation of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leaders that is currently in the Sindh capital, Abbasi told journalists that the public was suffering the worst of the record-setting inflation witnessed in recent months. “[Prime Minister] Imran Khan is responsible for the price hike in the country. We have never seen inflation like this. The situation is not normal,” he added.
Standing outside Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum, Abbasi said there was “no democracy in Quaid’s Pakistan… [it is a] dictatorship.” Predicting that the PMLN would emerge victorious in the next general elections, he said the party does not desire to be in power; merely wants to restore order. “The world is going somewhere else and Pakistan somewhere else. This is everyone’s country and we want it to go forward and progress,” he added.
To questions on whether the trip to Karachi was a precursor to forming a grand opposition alliance against the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Abbasi said there was no need for it. “We came to Karachi to meet everyone. Our doors are open for everyone,” he said.
In addition to Abbasi, senior PMLN leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Musadik Malik are also in Karachi. According to local media, they will be in the Sindh capital for two days and are set to meet the leaders of various political parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the Pak Sarzameen Party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, ahead of local body elections in the city.