RAWALPINDI:
At the first foundation day convention of the Awam Pakistan Party (APP) in Rawalpindi, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday issued a scathing critique of the current political and economic situation in the country.
Addressing party workers and supporters, the APP chief called Pakistan’s justice system “a tool for political engineering” and warned that growing inequality and poor governance were pushing the country towards instability.
Abbasi questioned the recent sentencing of opposition leaders. “If the opposition leader were to be sentenced to 30 years, that trial would have been shown live on television,” he said. “Justice should not only be doneit should be seen to be done,” he said.
“Who will invest in a country where the opposition leader is sentenced like a criminal without a transparent process?” he asked. He added that the concept of fair justice had eroded entirely in Pakistan. “The system of justice and fairness has ended.”
The former prime minister accused the government of using state machinery for personal and political gain. The government is being used to make money, not to serve the people,” he charged.
Turning his attention to the economy, Abbasi said that a government which has not come through the true mandate of the people cannot lead the country toward development. He cited the example of the sugar export policy as evidence of elite capture and collusion.
“There was shortage, yet 15% of our sugar was allowed to be exported,” he said. “Pakistan produces nearly 6 million tons of sugar, but sugar mill ownerswho also sit in parliamentsell to middlemen, and then sugar prices rise for ordinary citizens.”
Abbasi questioned whether the government had delivered any improvement in education, healthcare, or governance during the past eight months.
