Opposition parties on Wednesday castigated the federal government’s economic performance and governance failures, warning that rising poverty, unemployment and fiscal mismanagement were pushing the country toward an unmanageable crisis. Addressing a joint press conference, Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Aain-e-Pakistan (TTAP) leaders, including Zubair Umar and Asad Qaiser, claimed that the ruling system had failed to comply with constitutional obligations, especially those related to provincial shares and economic parity. Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said the government had "failure in terms of economic policy"adding that inflation and unemployment have reached such a scale that people no longer have money for two meals a day. He also denounced the long-delayed meeting of the National Finance Commission (NFC), saying Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was not getting its due share. He recalled that the Sartaj Aziz-led committee had recommended allocating Rs 1,000 billion for the development of FATA and following the merger of tribal areas, the NFC’s share in the province was fixed at 19 per cent. However, he claimed that even the payment of gas royalties due to KP had been stopped. Qaiser said the province had been transformed into "part of international politics" by handing over airports to foreign entities, and reminded reporters that KP bore the scars of both the war in Afghanistan and the war on terror. He noted that these conflicts had deterred investors and left tribal districts without employment opportunities, educational facilities or functioning markets. He said the tribal belt was 2,000 kilometers long, and yet, "the activities of the tribal people have been termed as smuggling."
Qaiser further said that the suspension of Afghan transit trade had worsened unemployment in KP. While recognizing that Pakistan had "problems with Afghanistan"he insisted that there was "different ways" to resolve them and noted that PTI founder Imran Khan had also expressed concern over deteriorating ties. He questioned why Pakistan was ready to negotiate with India but not explore diplomatic solutions with Iran and Afghanistan. "We are democrats, this country is ours," he said. He added that TTAP was "with the Pakistani army, not against it," but stressed that each institution must remain confined to its constitutional domain, noting that during PTI’s tenure, Pakistan had improved its trade relations with Afghanistan and several African countries. Former Sindh governor Zubair Umar said Pakistan’s exports had declined while the trade deficit had increased by 37 percent. Quoting various officials, he said that senior army officer General Sarfaraz had admitted that "business can no longer operate in Pakistan," while the ITFC had acknowledged that the investment climate was not conducive.
