Islamabad ‘:
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the February 8 elections on Saturday (today), the government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) celebrates a year of “stability and economic recovery”, while the Opposition, in particular Pakistan Tehreek- e-insaf (PTI), observes it as the “biggest day of shutter flight”.
On the one hand, members of the leader coalition call on February 8 as a “day of progress and development”, saying that key economic indicators have improved, the country has exceeded the financial uncertainty of last year and is now on the way to sustained growth.
The opposition parties, on the other, declared on February 8 as “dark day”, alleging that the mandate of the PTI was stolen a year ago, a government “ “ “ “ “ `Élu ” was installed by manipulating The results and that the general public quickly loses hope due to the ongoing repression against the people.
Although the Minister of Information Atullah Tarar did not respond to the SMS, seeking the version of the government, the governor of Punjab of the Pakistan Party Punjab, Saleem Haider, triggered controversy by affirming that Tarar N ‘ has not won the election against the PPP president, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
“It is guaranteed that Tarar has not won the elections,” he said, addressing a private media on the eve of the electoral anniversary. He added that he was not sure that Bilawal had won or lost the election last year, but he certainly knew that Tarar had lost him.
The Governor did not chop the words on the rigging, saying that the candidates winning his constituency in Attock as well as the set of Rawalpindi and many in Karachi won via form 47 – which is prepared by recorded results obtained obtained From form 45. “The whole of Pakistan is in form 47”, continued Haider.
To a question if the mandate belonged to the PTI, Haider said that it was ROS’s election, before adding that those who won could say how they had managed to gain elections because he himself had lost the elections of his constituency. He said that all those who manipulated last year’s elections were to be taken care of.
Meanwhile, the PTI information secretary, Sheikh Waqas Akram, published a video message, saying that the founder of the Imran Khan party and other leaders and workers had faced the worst type of oppression since the operation presumed of the “regime change”, which was intensified for months before the general elections and still downstream on.
On February 8, he continued, the PTI would observe a “dark day” and forcefully raised the voice against the alleged “mandate”. While announcing that the PTI would hold a public rally in Swabi, Akram said that the people would organize demonstrations in Punjab, Sindh and Balutchistan.
In response, the Minister of Defense, Khawaja Asif, posted on X that the PTI held a rally against the rigging of the province where he had earned, saying that taxpayers’ money was spent on the party rally in Swabi. He threw the glove to the PTI to organize rallies in Punjab, Sindh and Balutchistan.
Nevertheless, a year after the elections, the experts said that the economy of Pakistan had demonstrated continuous improvement in the first half of the 2025 financial year, adding that it was based on stabilization obtained during the 20124 financial year , when GDP developed by 2.5% after the contraction of the previous year.
Despite the rigging allegations, experts thought that inflation had increased 7.2% considerably against 28.8% a year ago, supported by the softening of world prices, a stable exchange rate and government policies targeted.
Political reforms, monetary relaxation and budgetary consolidation have further strengthened the basics of sustainable economic momentum, they said, adding that the current account of the account posted an excess of $ 1.21 billion in July- December 20125.
Record payment entries and solid export performance compensates for the growing import bill. In addition, experts said that direct foreign investments (FDI) jumped by 20%, driven by investments in the electricity and oil sectors.
They added that the exchange reserves were sufficient to cover more than two months of imports, supported by the disbursements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international financial aid. They also said that the rupe was appreciated by 1.2% – indicating favorable external developments.
The external sector has maintained economic experts, has seen a marked improvement in payment entries as well as resilient export performance, contributing to a substantial improvement in the current balance of the account.
In the first quarter of the 2010 financial year, they said that GDP growth was estimated at 0.9%, compared to 2.3% in the same quarter of the 201024 fiscal year on the growth of 1.15% of the ‘agriculture, and growth of 1.43% in the service sectors. In the industrial sector, they continued, growth has remained negative.
However, they said that the contraction slowed down at -1.03% compared to -4.43% last year, reporting progressive improvement. They declared that the industrial sector experienced a 1.7% contraction during the 201024 financial year, due to stabilization measures, tight monetary policy position, high inflation rate and a rate of rate Change unstable.
Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) underwent sustained growth of 1.0% during the 201024 fiscal year, they said, adding that in the first quarter2025, the industrial sector was contracted by 1.03% , showing an improvement in relation to a substantial contraction of 4.43% during the same period last year.
This recovery has been largely attributed to the growth of manufacturing, as well as electricity, gas and water supply. However, downward risks persist in mining and career, which decreased by 6.49%, and construction, which was significantly contracted by 14.91%.
During July-November for the 20125 fiscal year, the LSM sector experienced a slight decrease of 1.25%, compared to the 1.9% contraction recorded during the same period last year. Shipments of funds experienced an impressive growth of 32.8% to reach $ 17.8 billion during H1 FY2025 compared to the same period in 2010.
This significant increase has been fueled by multiple factors, including increased migration, exchange rate stability and targeted government incentives. IDE entries demonstrated a marked improvement of 20% in Juld-Dec FY2025, reaching $ 1.329 billion, against $ 1.11 billion last year.
Although the government attributes this reversal to its economic policies, a reduction in interest rates and an increase in foreign investments, the opposition remains critical of the electoral process which has put power to the current administration.
The PTI and its allies rejected the government’s allegations, arguing that the elections have been manipulated and that the results do not reflect the will of the people. The party has announced demonstrations and events across the country to mark February 8 as a “daylight day”, accusing the coalition in the power to benefit from a faded electoral process.
