A representational image of a transmission tower, also known as an electricity pylon. — Unsplash/File
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf spokesman on Saturday rejected the sharp increase of R 5.72 in the electricity basic tariff and said this would not only affect the purchasing power of people but also lead to the funeral of the domestic economy.
“We completely reject the increase in the basic price of electricity and demand that the price per unit be brought down to at least the level of April 2022,” he said. Calling the increase as brutal, he alleged that the current ‘mandate thief government’ was an anti-people government in every sense, which was being proved by its each and every move.
“The target of the rulers occupying power without people’s mandate is the people, the middle class and the salaried class. The people are being punished for rejecting the reign of tyranny and horror on February 8 and electing Imran Khan and his party through votes,” he said in a statement issued here.
On the one hand, he charged, the economic massacre of people was being carried out with the cruel budget against them and the increase in the prices of electricity and oil.
He alleged that earlier, the mandate-stealing incompetent government laid the foundation for the destruction of the rural economy by targeting farmers: Now the storm of inflation coming as a result of the federal government’s contradictory and flawed budget will engulf everyone from the common man to the business class. He also reacted to the remarks about Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majuka, who heard appeals against conviction in the Iddat case.
He said the Iddat case against Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi was the most absurd case in human history. “The sole purpose of the Iddat case is to target Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi with immoral political vengeance. The slow trial of the case has finally been completed while the verdict is yet to come,” he noted.
He claimed that the reaction of the judge hearing the appeals against the sentence in the Iddat case clearly showed signs of unconstitutional, illegal and extra-judicial pressure.
“Our justice system, he noted, was passing through the worst phase in history and was languishing in the clutches of extra-constitutional forces. “Decisions have been obtained from judges and courts to keep the PTI founder chairman in jail,” he said.
Separately, he condemned the use of state force against peaceful protests and PTI’s activities across the country including Islamabad. “The PTI demands release of all leaders and workers arrested on Friday. The days of the mandate thieves occupying the country are numbered and the nation is not ready to give them any more time,” he claimed.
Source link: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1200948-hike-in-power-tariff-to-deal-fatal-blow-to-economy-pti