Pak opposition terms Imran Khan's relief package 'historic fraud'

Opposition parties on Wednesday described the relief package announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan as the "biggest and historic fraud" with the nation and asked him to step down if he really wants to provide relief to the masses, local media reported.

The country's two main opposition parties -- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lashed out at the government's economic policies, Dawn News reported.

Hours after Imran Khan's address to the nation, PML-N information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb through a statement asked Khan to resign for "lying on national television and announcing a fraud package to fool the nation".

She said this was a Takleef (pain) Package and not a relief package. She ridiculed the claim that it was a historic package and said the only thing historic was that it was a "historic fraud," Dawn reported.

According to the Pakistani publication, Aurangzeb said this package would bring a new tsunami of misery and unleash more inflation and unemployment in the country.

"The only public announcement that would help solve the crisis created by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) would be corrupt, incompetent and clueless Imran Khan's resignation," she said.

Meanwhile, Sherry Rehman, the PPP parliamentary leader in Senate, in her statement said "the blame minister of Pakistan" had given a "bizarre speech" where he said unprecedented inflation, a tsunami of oil, gas prices and other essential items was because of past governments and the international market, Dawn reported.

"Maybe he has forgotten that the PPP faced higher global oil prices at over USD 130 per barrel, but local petrol was still half of today's prices and the Pakistani rupee still stood strong," she said, adding that the PM was living in a parallel universe where he could not see the pain inflicted on the poor by soaring prices and were becoming completely unsustainable for the whole country.

"It's ironic how the biggest welfare package in Pakistan's history is targeted for 20m people when in fact the entire 240m population of this country needs relief," she said.

On Wednesday, Imran Khan announced "country's biggest-ever" subsidy package worth Rs 120 billion, providing 30 per cent discount on ghee, flour and pulses to support 130 million people by ebbing away from the impact of inflation.

( With inputs from ANI )