(Oct 19-2022)
Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said PTI should start positive negotiations after winning the by-elections.
PTI should play its role in bailing the country out of the political chaos otherwise people will continue to pay the price of instability, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the economy is also paying the price for continued political instability in the country.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that all political parties must work together and agree on a charter of the economy to pull the country out of the economic vortex.
Failed state-run corporations should be sold without any delay and losses in the power and gas sectors, circular debts and ever-increasing trade deficits should be tackled through political consensus.
A national action plan can be made for this, otherwise, the people affected by inflation and the flood victims will continue to suffer, he warned.
He said that usually the political temperature is low after the election but the temperature is continuously rising in Pakistan. It is uncertain whether any stakeholder will benefit from unrest, but the economy is sure to be affected.
The opposition will not be able to achieve its political goals by increasing the pressure on the government at this stage, but it will definitely increase the problems of the people who are worried about inflation.
The agitation will not improve the situation but will worsen it, therefore, the opposition should consider going back to the assembly and starting a dialogue on the national economic agenda which would be a better option to consider.
Mian Zahid Hussain further said that Karachi is the biggest city in the country and the economic foundation of Pakistan but no one is paying attention to it. This important city has been running without a local government for two years. In Punjab, there is no local government for the last ten months and there is no immediate possibility of managing it.
