Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With Pakistan’s efforts to get a bailout package to avert bankruptcy next month going nowhere, its new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, known for his histrionics and uncontrolled stage behavior, has vowed to sell his own clothes to make sure the common people got cheaper wheat flour.
On Sunday, Sharif gave an ultimatum to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Mahmood Khan, announcing if the latter did not bring down the price of 10 kg wheat flour bag to Pakistani rupees 400 within the next 24 hours, he (Sharif) will sell his own clothes and provide the cheapest flour to the people, according to the media reports on Monday.
Addressing a public meeting at Thakara stadium, the ebullient Pakistani PM said, “I reiterate my words, I would sell my outfits and provide the cheapest wheat flour to people.” Many clapping people ‘welcomed’ Sharif’s latest announcement.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a stronghold of his chief rival and predecessor, Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi. Sharif accused him of gifting Pakistan with the highest-ever inflation and unemployment.
Sharif also condemned the preceding Imran-led government, saying that he failed to fulfill his promise to provide five million houses and 10 million jobs and pushed the country into an unprecedented economic crisis.
“I solemnly declare in front of you that I would lay down my life but put this country on the path to prosperity and development,” Shehbaz Sharif said during the rally.
Blaming his predecessor, Sharif said, “Imran Khan, who disgraces everyone in public, had reduced petroleum products’ prices when the rates were increasing all over the world after realizing that we will throw him out of power through a no-confidence motion.”
Praising his elder brother, he said, “I have a backache but even then I traveled to meet you and enjoyed the motorway ride all the way as I remembered Nawaz Sharif for his love for people and this country,” Shehbaz Sharif said.