Islamabad : Former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt, on Monday congratulated the nation on its new democratic journey and hoped that the overall situation would improve.
The incoming government should try hard to reduce the problems of the people, and politicians from all political parties should show nationalism by initiating efforts to save the economy, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that the newly elected members of the Sindh and Punjab Assemblies have taken oaths, and the elected members of other provinces will also take oaths soon.
After a few days, the new Prime Minister will also be elected which will defuse political tensions to some extent, he said.
Now, all the political parties should decide their grievances related to the elections on the relevant forums instead of on the streets and play their role in political stability.
He said all parties should unite to get the country out of its problems. The country needs political and economic stability like never before, without ensuring stability, it is impossible to rebuild the country.
Shahid Rashid Butt said that all the politicians will have to keep national interests above personal and party interests and measures should be taken for economic survival, security, and prosperity, for which a long struggle is needed.
He demanded that the politics of hatred, provocation, revenge, and division, should be buried and a constructive attitude should be adopted.
He said that the debt burden on the country has increased to more than 126 billion dollars, and the people are kept unaware at the time of taking loans and kept in the dark about the usage of these loans.
However, the burden of these loans is always shifted to the masses, which is unjustified. Politicians take loans without hesitation despite the knowledge of their negative effects which should be stopped.
Due to these loans, electricity, gas, and oil have become very expensive, inflation is increasing and people cannot pay for them. This is also affecting the investment climate, as investors prefer countries where these things are cheaper.
Shahid Rashid Butt said that politicians should learn from the mistakes of the past and focus on economic stability instead of gimmicks like the devaluation of the dollar and appreciation of the rupee through administrative measures.
Who will be willing to invest in Pakistan if key policies can be changed at any time? He said that the plan to import gas from Iran is welcome, but the displeasure of Western powers should not be taken for it because the loss of international sanctions will be more than the loss of gas scarcity.
