The opposition on Saturday termed the fresh petrol price hike a failure of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The criticism comes as the government increased petroleum prices by Rs9 to 12.
In a statement, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the PTI had brought a tsunami of inflation in the country by surging prices of petroleum products to a record new high.
“By increasing the price of petrol by more than Rs10 a litre, the government is actually charging the people for its incompetence,” said Bilawal.
“We never imposed such a burden on the people when the prices of petroleum products in the world market skyrocketed during the PPP era.”
“Only a people-friendly government of the PPP could save the country from the current tsunami of inflation,” Bilawal added.
“By making petrol and diesel expensive, [Prime Minister] Imran Khan has proved he was a people-enemy prime minister,” he maintained. He also sought the nation’s support to get rid of the “oppressive government which has pushed Pakistan into the quagmire of inflation.”
POL price hike, a continuation of mini-budget: Shehbaz
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif termed the increase in POL products prices as a “mini-budget.”
“Imran Niazi should resign instead of taking people’s lives due to inflation. Only this way, the nation will get relief,” said Sharif while criticising his party and the PTI government.
No words to describe the extreme cruelty this selected PTI regime has inflicted on the people in the form of yet another increase in the prices of items of daily use. These latest hikes along with petrol bomb will push people to the brink of starvation. Utterly shameful!
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) October 16, 2021
Quoting Imran Khan’s old statement that “if inflation rises in a country, it means the prime minister is corrupt,” the PML-N leader demanded PM’s resignation.
“Practice what you preach. Such a person has no right to cling to the Prime Minister’s Office,” said Sharif.
Sharif wondered how a poor Pakistani man would run his house and feed his children.
“A surge in petrol price makes everything expensive, and Imran Niazi says people cannot understand the reason behind inflation. Imran Niazi is the fundamental reason behind the destruction of the economy and rising inflation, and this is what people have understood clearly now,” he claimed.