- Web Desk
- Today
Imran Khan slams govt for ‘zero economic growth’
-
- Web Desk
- Jan 06, 2025
RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday slammed the government’s handling of the economy, claiming that Pakistan’s growth rate is at zero, and that artificially controlling the dollar rate is not an economic achievement.
In a post to his official X account, Khan said, “Investment comes with stability and rule of law. No country can progress when its real public representatives are in jail instead of in government.”
He, while dismissing the £190 million Al-Qadir trust case as baseless and a pressure tactic to crush him, reiterated that he will not “seek any NRO deal like Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari did”.
Earlier on Monday, the Accountability Court postponed his sentencing in the graft case till January 13. Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are among the prime accused in the case, accused of receiving billions of rupees and land spanning hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd.
In his statement, Imran Khan further said he would get all cases built against him concluded by court. “Like the Cipher and Toshakhana cases, this too will fall apart. I built an educational institution, not a personal estate,” he said, comparing Al-Qadir Trust to Shaukat Khanum Hospital and Namal University.
The PTI founder said he had witnessed every martial law imposed in Pakistan, including those of Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, and Pervez Musharraf. However, he said, the current situation under the guise of democracy matches only to Yahya Khan’s rule, where judiciary, media, and political opposition were completely suppressed.
“In every martial law, the first targets are democracy, an independent judiciary, and free media. The same is happening today under this so-called democratic setup,” he added.
He criticized the alleged media blackout against him, questioning how Pakistan’s most popular leader’s name is banned on television.
The incarcerated PTI leader also accused the government of spreading propaganda about backdoor negotiations involving his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Earlier, Barrister Gohar had also rejected the rumours of backdoor talks with government through Bushra, saying that only talks taking place are through the party’s negotiation team formed by Imran Khan himself.
Also Read: More than 60 FIA officials involved in human trafficking, 38 face immediate dismissal
Imran Khan further alleged that even during Musharraf’s tenure, elections were not as rigged as the February 2024 polls. “The fraudulent government brought to power through Form 47 (election rigging) is crushing PTI to stay in power,” he said, accusing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of being nothing more than a puppet of establishment.