Govt fed up with capital onslaughts, vows `never again`

 

ISLAMABAD: After a days-long march by the PTI on thefederalcapital brought the city to a standstill, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday asserted the government would show zero tolerance in the future as he vowed to put an end to the repeated sit-ins and marches on Islamabad for the sake of stability.

In an address duringthe meeting of the federal cabinet, the premier said they had to take strict measures to quell such scenes in the future as they could no longer putall their resources and energies into stopping such demonstrations. The PTI rally, after three days, fizzled out last night after a crackdown by the law enforcement.

`As a prime minister, the chief executive, [and] as members of the cabinet and parliamentarians...

[we] will not let that coterie of anarchy inflict further harm on the country`s economy,` PM Shehbaz added.

The recent protest caused Rs190 billion in daily damages to the national economy, affecting the country`s exports and imports, he said, adding that for personal interests, the PTI leadership was damaging the country`s interests, which `is a bigger crime and will not be forgiven`.

He said that the cabinet meeting had only onepoint agenda: to discuss the current situation emerging after repeated assaults on the capital by a political party. The PM said they could no longer sap their energy and resources in confronting them, stressing that the government would not let it happen again.

It would not happen, not under their watch, he said, adding, `We will steer Pakistan out of the challenges.

The premier said the protests caused huge economic losses: businesses were closed, traders were perturbed, owners of the factories were in distress, and daily wagers even found it hard to get a one-time meal.

The patients were also stranded because of the protest, he added.

In the larger context, the economic losses were manifolds; the country`s stock exchange market, which had crossed the historic mark of 99,000 points a few days back, lost 4,000 points in one day due to the chaos, he said, adding, `These miscreants have become the permanent enemies of Pakistan`s progress.

The directive of Islamabad High Court was torn up into pieces as a person was hell bent on putting the country at stake for his vested interests, the PM added.