Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and member of National Assembly (MNA) Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Thursday said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan should “take notice of the sugar mill owners, 45 per cent of whom are interestingly in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)”.
The former foreign minister was speaking during a National Assembly (NA) session during which he talked about the recent sugar crisis in the country.
“Every day, the price of sugar increases by up to Rs5-6,” he said. “The prime minister has admitted that ‘I am surrounded by mafias’. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members own 45 per cent of sugar mills.
Asif called on the government to expose the mafia that was “playing with people’s hunger” and making money from the sugar and wheat crisis.
“The [sugar mills] of Zardari, Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif have closed down,” he said, warning that the looters present in the government will destroy it.
Asif also called on the speaker to empower the NA and make committees to get to the bottom of the sugar crisis. “A committee comprising parliamentarians should be formed over inflation to determine the responsible person,” he said while adding that if this issue was not resolved, then the government and politicians will both be held responsible for it.
During the incumbent government’s 15 months, sugar prices have shot up to as high as Rs64 a kilo. However, during the last month, the wholesale rate of sugar rose from Rs64 to Rs74 per kg and an acute shortage of the product surfaced in the country.
