State has been sunk, people on streets for their survival: Sheikh Rashid

Says those distributing sweets over IMF have taken refuge in London

RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – The chief of Awami Muslim League (AML) – Sheikh Rashid – said on Monday the state had been sunk, not saved, as the people were the state, who had taken to the streets for their survival. 

Doubling the electricity bill was economic suicide, he said in a statement posted on microblogging website X, adding that one would have to see what petrol and power [prices] were going to produce next month.

ریاست کو بچایا نہیں ریاست کو ڈوبویا ہے کیونکہ عوام کا نام ہی ریاست ہےاور عوام سیاست کے لئے نہیں اپنی بقاء کے لئے سڑکوں پر آئی ہےبجلی کا دگنا بل معاشی خودکشی ہونا ہے اگلے مہینے دیکھیں پٹرول اور بجلی کیا رنگ دکھاتی ہے وہ وقت آگیا ہے کہ ہمیں معاشی غلامی کی بیڑیاں توڑنی پڑیں گی سفید…

— Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (@ShkhRasheed) August 28, 2023

The time had come to get rid of the economic slavery, Rashid said. He said the middle class had virtually died, adding that both the president and the prime minister were on Twitter – the former brand name of X. 

He said former finance minister Ishaq Dar too had reached London after pushing the country and the poor towards destruction. He was proving true to his [Dar’s] colours. All the relatives rushed to their last refuge but were not in a position to come out of their homes even there, the former interior minister remarked. 

Rashid said all the political parties, except the PML-N, were calling for elections within 90 days. They would part ways with the PML-N which would have to take responsibility for all the mess. 

He questioned what the members of the 13-party ruling alliance were thinking at the time of inking the agreement with the IMF. The PPP signed the census results and then also took stance on the issue of holding elections within 90 days, Rashid mentioned.

Those who distributed sweets after the IMF deal were hiding in London, the AML chief quipped. 

He said the poor won’t benefit from not using the AC in the caretaker prime minister’s room and added that the interim setup had nothing do with the inflation and higher electricity tariff as it was a product of the 13-member coalition government that ruled for 16 months.