ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Wednesday that the government would not tolerate any more PTI marches or sit-ins in Islamabad for the sake of stability after the PTI’s days-long march on the federal capital brought the city to a complete halt.
The premier stated in a speech at the federal cabinet meeting that they could no longer devote all of their resources and efforts to putting an end to such protests and that they needed to take strong action to prevent such scenarios in the future. Following three days, the PTI rally ended Friday night due to a police raid.
“As the prime minister, the head of state, [and] as cabinet members and lawmakers…[we] will not allow that group of anarchists to further damage the nation’s economy,” PM Shehbaz continued.
He said that the recent protest cost the country’s economy Rs190 billion every day and had an impact on both imports and exports. He also claimed that the PTI leadership was harming the nation’s interests for personal gain, which “is a bigger crime and will not be forgiven.”
He claimed that the cabinet meeting’s sole purpose was to address the present state of affairs following a political party’s persistent attacks on the capital. The PM emphasized that the government would not allow it to happen again and stated that they could no longer waste their time and money fighting them.
“We will steer Pakistan out of the challenges,” he added, stressing that it would not occur, not under their supervision.
According to the premier, the protests resulted in significant financial losses, including the closure of businesses, disruption of traders, distress among factory owners, and difficulty for daily wagerers to obtain a single meal. He stated that the protest also left the patients stranded.
He added, “These miscreants have become the permanent enemies of Pakistan’s progress.” In the broader context, the economic losses were numerous; the country’s stock exchange market, which had just passed the historic 99,000-point mark, lost 4,000 points in a single day as a result of the chaos.
The PM went on to say that the Islamabad High Court’s order was ripped to shreds because someone was determined to risk the nation for his own personal gain.
Since none of the political parties had previously considered attacking the federal capital, the prime minister lamented that such a pattern of upheavals and attacks had not been commonplace until 2014. He also brought up the PTI’s 2014 sit-in, which caused the Chinese president’s visit to be delayed. The prime minister continued by mentioning the demonstration during the Saudi delegation’s visit and on the eve of the October SCO meeting.
Regarding the recent visit of the Belarusian president, the premier stated that although choices were being made to improve bilateral relations and cooperation between the two nations, there were also fighting scenes.
The prime minister stated that they could no longer waste their time and energy addressing these spectacles on a daily basis and that it was necessary to reflect on why the nation was still beset by foreign debt 77 years later.
May 9 penalties
“No patriotic citizen or even a resident of the country could imagine harming the country for their personal interests or going to such extremes,” PM Shehbaz stated, adding that the miscreants had also killed and injured security officials during the recent demonstration.
He believed that such scenes would not have occurred if the suspects in the May 9 riots had received commendable sentences from the courts.
The prime minister also thanked the police in Islamabad, Punjab, and Sindh as well as other law enforcement organizations for putting an end to the protests. He especially thanked the army chief for his assistance in maintaining peace and order. The prime minister claimed that all law enforcement organizations had dispersed the demonstration and offered assistance to the public in a coordinated and well-thought-out manner.
Regarding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s security situation, the prime minister stated that although terrorism was on the rise in KP and dozens of people had been killed in Kurram, the provincial government had abandoned the people and launched an armed attack on Islamabad instead of concentrating on the province’s law and order situation.
He made a subtle allusion to the PTI when he remarked that the coalition government’s efforts to keep Pakistan from going into default hurt them. He added that the economy had been recovering over the past eight months and that the coalition parties had sacrificed their political ambitions to preserve the nation.
Following their unsuccessful demonstration, PTI’s audacious promises and plans were shattered, said to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. The minister referred to the demonstration as a “colossal failure” during a late-night press conference, highlighting that it had become the PTI’s inescapable fate.
