Senior journalist Hamid Mir has warned that all is not well in Islamabad and a big storm may hit the corridors of power in the near future.
While speaking on Geo News’ programme Geo Pakistan, Mir said, “Maujooda haqoomti ittehaad mein sab kuch acha nahin hai aur Islamabad mein honay waali siyaasi garma garmi aanay waalay dinon mein koyi barra toofaan barpa kar sakti hai” (All is not well within the incumbent coalition government. The political heat in Islamabad could create a big storm in the coming days).
Mir said that if Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan dissolves the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab Assembly, then the heat in Islamabad can create a huge storm.
He was of the view that junior coalition parties could also force Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif’s government to hold general elections.
Separately, differences can also be seen within Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his predecessor Miftah Ismail put forward their conflicting views on the state of Pakistan’s economy.
While Dar argued that the country’s performance criteria are up to the mark and “complete” for the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) ninth review, Ismail insisted that the default risk wouldn’t subside unless the Fund came to the table.
Mulk mein default ka khatra hai, says Miftah Ismail
Miftah Ismail said on Tuesday that there is still a threat of the country defaulting until the government completes the IMF ninth review. On the contrary, Dar said that he was not concerned whether the IMF team arrived or not for the ninth review, asserting that the IMF could “not dictate” the government.
Appearing on Geo News’ programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath”, Miftah rang alarm bells, stating that Pakistan is in jeopardy. “It has gone back in jeopardy and as long as IMF is not back on the table, the threat of default will remain high,” he emphasised.
Moreover, he believed that the path Pakistan is on might take the country toward default urging the incumbent government to take steps to prevent that from happening.
On the show, the former minister blamed Khan for the ongoing economic crisis. He said, “Khan is responsible for pushing Pakistan towards default; he is the one who broke his promise with the IMF; Khan is the one who wanted to derail the IMF programme when we tried to revive it under PM Shehbaz Sharif’s leadership.”
When asked that the incumbent finance minister Ishaq Dar has said several times that IMF is being unreasonable, Miftah responded that first we need to take a good look at ourselves.
“When the IMF gives you a loan, this means they are helping you out. We need to look at ourselves, why did we go to the IMF previously. Dealing with the IMF is not an easy task,” Miftah said. He reiterated that if the IMF didn’t come to the table, “It will be very difficult to save Pakistan from a default”.
He stressed that the country needed to take action on certain matters to bring the IMF mission to Pakistan, saying that funds from neighbouring countries could only last the country for weeks.
Earlier this month, Pakistan ended its immediate default risk when the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) made a payment of $1 billion for sukuk bond.
