Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday congratulated the nation on Asad Umar stepping down as the finance minister.
“I want to congratulate Pakistanis. It was every Pakistani’s demand that the government reviews its economic policies,” Bilawal told reporters here. “Since this government has come to power, the people of Pakistan have drowned in a tsunami of inflation,” he said, and added that the government has accepted that its economic policies have failed and they could not provide relief to the people. “Other ministers who have links with banned organisations will also have be dismissed soon,” he added.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan’s economy is being held hostage by ego, arrogance and stubbornness. “Imran Khan Niazi should set aside his ego, arrogance and stubbornness and concentrate on the economy,” he said, and added that he had made an offer to improve the economy since day one. “If time had not been wasted, we wouldn’t have been facing such economic devastation,” he said, adding that more adverse economic situation will be encountered by the nation if further time is wasted.
While referring to the recent cabinet reshuffle under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government that saw Finance Minister Asad Umar leaving, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz said that there was no need for revenge. In a tweet, she said that revenge is not necessary when those who hurt will eventually face consequences. “No need for revenge. Just sit back and wait,” she tweeted. PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb weighed in on Asad Umar’s decision to leave Prime Minister Imran Khan’s federal cabinet. She asked if Umar’s policies were so good and the problems were from the PML-N government, why was he asked to step down. “This is an admission by IK that his policies have created an economic crisis in Pakistan. The real problem is not Asad. It is the PM,” she tweeted.
Former finance minister Ishaq Dar said Asad Umar’s stepping down as the finance minister of the country reflects ‘cowardice’.
In his statement, Dar accused Umar of misleading the nation since 2014, adding, “Asad Umar remained the finance minister for eight months and laid distorted facts before the nation.” He noted that there was only one month left in the presentation of budget, while the agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also in its final stages. He further said his party pointed to Imran Khan’s ‘lies’ over the past three weeks. “We pointed to the dropping of inflation bomb on the masses. We also gave suggestions to the government as to how could the economy be fixed,” Dar recalled. “They did not listen to anything and now Asad Umar is resigning, which is inappropriate.”
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Senator Sirajul Haq said the resignation of Asad Omar is an acceptance of failure of the economic policies by the government. He said from the very first day, questions were being raised on the competence of the entire government which neither had a vision nor a strong team to run the country. The performance of the government till now proved that it did not know its goal, he added.
