PPP, PML-N leaders criticise PM Imran's inaugural address

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Saeed Ghani slammed Prime Minister Imran Khan's inaugural address Sunday night a few hours after it was broadcasted on national TV.

Ghani remarked that there was nothing in Khan's speech other than the five-point agenda that was presented by former president Pervez Musharraf.

The premier remained silent on important issues such as terrorism and extremism, the PPP leader claimed, adding that Khan did not say anything against the killers who have claimed lives of 70,000 Pakistanis.

He also said the PM did not provide any policy statement on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the seeds of which were planted by PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.

Khan did not comment on the constitutional rights of Sindh and other smaller provinces either, Ghani stressed, adding further that he should have also offered a strategy on policies pertaining to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

"The PM did not say a single word regarding the reservations against the census," he noted, alleging that all those who have forcefully occupied land in Karachi were the allies of the country's premier.

'PM Imran repeated what he has said before'

Ahsan Iqbal, the former interior minister and a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), remarked that Khan only repeated what he had said before in the inaugural address. 

While speaking to Geo News, he said: “[Imran Khan] didn’t provide any solid mechanism for implementation of his policies."

The fact that Khan did not focus on matters such as terrorism and load-shedding proves that the PML-N government was able to resolve these two problems. “The team formulated by Imran Khan cannot help him achieve his targets.”

He further criticised the new PM's decision to not appoint an interior minister.

In the past, the PTI used to criticise the PML-N government for not appointing a foreign minister, he mentioned, adding that it was, however, negligence on Khan's behalf to not appoint an interior minister.

Terrorism is the biggest threat to Pakistan right now. "We managed to curb terrorism to a considerable degree. But, we still need to curb widespread hate and extremism in the country."

Pakistan needs a full-time interior minister, he added.

PM has no interest in Gilgit-Baltistan: GB govt

Reacting to PM Khan's speech, the spokesperson for the Gilgit-Baltistan government said the elected premier has no interest in his region.

"The premier spoke about the Diamer-Bhasha dam but did not mention the people residing in the area it is being built," he said.

The new premier does not even know that the G-B area is the economic hub of the country. The PM spoke of the water crisis but forgot about the glaciers.