KARACHI: The PML-N-led government’s allies, the PPP and the MQM, think that the government should stay in power until the end of its term before making hard decisions about Pakistan’s faltering economy.
Allies of the government agreed with the “tough decision” it made to deal with the economic crisis.
In an interview, they said that putting in place a caretaker government now to hold early elections would not help in any way.
Khursheed Shah, the leader of the PPP, said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has the full power to make hard decisions that will save the country. “The country will suffer if we don’t make hard choices,” he said.
After introducing electoral reforms in September or October, the government should move toward elections, he said, adding that holding elections right away and setting up a caretaker government will put the country in a situation like Sri Lanka’s.
When asked if the prime minister is too weak to be able to make important decisions. Shah replied by saying that he didn’t understand how a government could make decisions when it had no choice.
Faisal Sabzwari of the MQM said on the show that fixing the economy would take more than a year of hard work. “It’s a matter of national security, so precise and quick decisions are needed, and the MQM is willing to pay the price for tough national decisions,” he said.
He was also against making a caretaker government right away. He said that the international organization that gives loans to the country would not trust the choices made by the caretaker government.
On the show, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the problem needs help from all sides. He said that everyone should know that in this unprecedented crisis, the establishment, all political leaders, all prime ministers, and the president are all required to support these hard decisions.
So, he said, the National Security Committee should get together to talk about the situation and decide what needs to be done. He said that the government should step down if the people who will be affected don’t want to be responsible for making hard decisions in a situation that wasn’t their fault.
PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira asked on the Geo News show why the government should call elections and if the new government wouldn’t have to deal with the same problems.
