ISLAMABAD: The spokesman for Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, said on Wednesday that the government’s “incompetence and lack of direction” were forcing the “powers behind Imran Khan” to rethink their decision.

“Due to lack of direction on the part of the government not only the general public but even the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) cadre and ‘those who brought Imran Khan to power’ are upset and confused,” Senator Khokhar said while talking to the media at the PPP media centre.

He criticised Prime Min­ister Imran Khan over his speech in South Waziristan where he had called Mr Bhutto-Zardari “Sahiba”.

“The level of public address of Mr Khan has fallen to the level of Sheikh Rashid. But this was not unintentional rather this indulgence in derogatory politics and discussion on non-issues reflected a thought-out policy of the government aimed to hide its poor performance,” he added.

Government incompetence, lack of direction has created confusion among PTI cadre, says Bilawal’s spokesman

Senator Khokhar said that the premier always remained absent from the assembly because he had no answer to questions on rising inflation, economic problems and other issues faced by the country.

He added that it was the right of the nation to know details of the proposed deal with the International Monetary Fund and it should be discussed in the parliament.

He said that the concept of mainstreaming radicals and former terrorists was absurd and contrary to the spirit of the National Action Plan against terrorism and that too should be discussed in the parliament.

Confusion and lack of trust in the system was spreading, Senator Khokhar said, adding that the PTI cadre was upset over the recent shakeup of the federal cabinet.

“This [the cabinet] is a gathering of non-elected persons. Why did the PTI give tickets to the people who are incompetent and unable to deliver?” asked the spokesman for Mr Bhutto-Zardari “I am sure that Imran Khan had never met Abdul Hafeez Shaikh before his induction in the cabinet.”

Senator Khokhar said that the choice of retired Brig Ijaz Shah as interior minister was wrong (because of allegations against him) as the country was under the watch of the Financial Action Task Force.

“Ijaz Shah is an infamous person not only in the country but his notoriety has spread in international circles,” he added,

Read: Ijaz Shah appointed federal minister for parliamentary affairs

“Look at Nadeem Babar, the special assistant to the PM on petroleum. He is a defaulter of Rs800 million to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited,” the senator alleged.

He said that several scandals were appearing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but regretfully the National Accountability Bureau was not filing any case over matters such as the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit fiasco or fake enrolments in schools.

“The worst example of the government’s incompetence is its foreign policy and the recent event of Iran shows that the prime minister as well as the foreign minister lack understanding of international diplomacy,” Senator Khokhar said, adding that as a result of such happenings “even those who brought Imran Khan to power are confused”.

He said that it was due to this confusion that rumours about introduction of presidential system in the country were doing the rounds.

Senator Khokhar advised the prime minister to put his party and the government in order as resentment within their ranks would make it difficult to get the federal budget approved.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2019