ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Professor Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry has said that former prime minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan wanted to create political turmoil by dissolving Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) assemblies.

Ahsan Iqbal expressed these views during his interview with a private television channel on Thursday. He further noted that the country’s economy and law and order were linked to its political stability, saying “if you would create political instability in Pakistan; its economy and security situation would automatically get deteriorated.”

He went on to say that PTI chairman wanted to create instability and uncertainty just for the sake of political leverage that the world that was being called by Secretary General United Nations António Guterres for Pakistan’s assistance in Geneva on 9th January 2023, could be stopped to do so. Pakistan’s situation was very abnormal and this attitude was very irresponsible, he deplored.

Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan rendered numerous sacrifices in the war against terror. He elaborated, in 2013, suicide attacks were daily routine and terrorism was on climax in the country but the then government framed National Action Plan after the incident of Army Public School and fought a decisive war by bringing political and army leadership on the same page.

Unluckily the law and order in KPK was being deteriorated since last few years, he said and added it was happening as Imran Khan had engaged the entire government of province in his movement since last few months as functionaries of this government were busy in PTI protests, rallies and sit-ins due to which security situation there was being exacerbated slowly and steadily. Bannu incident was an awaking point for all of us, he added.

He said that Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had pledged that they would not allow wasting the sacrifices of personnel and officers of the country’s security institutions as well as the citizens in this regard.

He said that the country defeated terrorism and added if it rose again the entire nation would crush it again by being united. Whenever the [federal] government takes some action it tries that relevant institutions and [provincial] government play their part, he added and expressed his optimism that they province’s government would take this matter seriously so that federal institutions could assist it.