Islamabad [Pakistan], May 3 : The opposition in Pakistan has launched a comprehensive attack on the federal government, alleging a complete failure to manage spiralling inflation and a systemic crackdown on media liberties, according to a report by Dawn.
In a multi-pronged offensive on Saturday, senior leadership from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its political allies slammed the administration for its "incompetence" and the employment of authoritarian measures to maintain power.
During a press conference, National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai delivered a blunt warning to the country's intelligence apparatus, while a separate communication from Tehreek-i-Insaf detailed the crushing economic and social burdens placed upon the citizenry.
Tehreek-i-Insaf Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram criticised the government's performance across multiple sectors, focusing primarily on failing economic policies. He noted that double-digit inflation has now exceeded official projections, significantly inflating the cost of energy, transport, and basic food items.
"The public was grappling with extreme economic pressure, yet the government was attempting to hide its 'incompetence' behind an excuse by shifting the blame onto global conditions, which Tehreek-i-Insaf strongly rejected," Akram stated, as reported by Dawn. He further argued that neighbouring nations had navigated the global crisis with far greater efficiency.
The Tehreek-i-Insaf statement maintained that a "continuous increase in petroleum prices has further intensified the inflationary pressure, making transport, electricity, wheat, vegetables, and other essential commodities unaffordable for the common man."
Demanding immediate intervention, the party called for a reduction in the petroleum levy and urgent steps to provide "real relief to the public."
Addressing the deteriorating state of press freedom, Akram referenced a recent global watchdog report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). He highlighted findings that media independence has reached a "critical low point globally," a trend he claimed is dangerously prevalent within Pakistan.
"In Pakistan as well, a dangerous rise has been observed in media pressure, censorship, and the harassment of journalists," he observed. Akram further characterised the manipulation of laws to suppress dissent and silence journalists as "poisonous to democracy."
According to Dawn, the Tehreek-i-Insaf spokesperson also denounced a "selective" anti-encroachment campaign in Islamabad, pointing to a decision to halt evictions at a luxury complex while the "houses of the poor were being bulldozed, rendering them homeless, while the powerful remained untouched."
Akram extended his criticism to the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government in Sindh, dismissing their claims of a high-quality healthcare system as being "detached from ground realities." He highlighted that over 75 per cent of senior health management roles in the province remain unfilled.
"This is not a minor administrative gap but a collapse of leadership and oversight at the highest level," Akram asserted, noting that such vacancies have left local communities exposed to outbreaks of HIV, dengue, and malaria.
In a separate event, Achakzai called for an end to political meddling by the security establishment. "Politics is not their cup of tea and they must stay within their domain and do their job," he stated, warning that the country is drifting towards internal strife.
Achakzai further alleged that the establishment is currently engineering a "minus-Imran Khan" political environment. According to Dawn, he claimed that "genuine leadership is in jails, while people with dubious credentials are in assemblies."
The opposition leader lamented that all state institutions had been "ruined," pointing to the judiciary's role in stripping a political party of its symbol and the restrictions placed on the incarcerated Khan.
Echoing these concerns, Tehreek-i-Insaf Secretary General Salman Akram Raja dismissed the notion that the Pakistani people could be "suppressed and rejected."
Raja emphasised that "there is nothing more important than Imran Khan's health and his release from unjustified incarceration," linking the economic survival of the poor directly to the freedom of the party founder.
He maintained that the party would persist in its "struggle for the release of Tehreek-i-Insaf founder Imran Khan and other prisoners," as per the Dawn report.