Sobering thought
PM Imran Khan was quoted by Daily Dunya (01 August 2019) as saying that the treasury was empty due to the looting (loot-maar) of the past and that it was not easy to build 5 million homes.
Persuasion
It was reported by Daily Dunya (01 August 2019) that Shehla Raza alleged that in the recent decisive Senate vote, a Senator could be bought for Rs. 700 million (70 crore) and that many were also shown videos.
A government and its makeup woes
The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Siraj-ul-Haq, according to Daily Express (02 August 2019), remarked on the alleged use of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) by the government as a tool of political victimization against anyone who spoke out. Siraj-ul-Haq went on to opine that the makeup was every day coming off the face of the government.
On where the fault might lie
Federal science minister Fawad Chaudhry, according to Daily Express (02 August 2019), claimed that the government had made every effort to save the face of the opposition and had repeatedly advised it to back off from its bid against the Chairman of the Senate. In his view, if there had been horse-trading, it was people from the Opposition who were involved. And so, he stated, the Opposition ought to check with Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman (Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman ki jeybein tatolni chahiye).
A Proper Probe
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan was quoted by Daily Express (03 August 2019) as saying to the PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal that if that party wanted to form an investigative commission into the vote over the Senate Chairmanship, then the sphere of investigation ought to be extended to include the forests of Changa Manga and the rest-houses of Murree.
Oops!
It was reported by Daily Express (04 August 2019) that Capt (r.) Safdar’s mobile phone was lost during the PML-N’s mass event at Pakpattan. There were repeated announcements from the stage about the fact that his phone had been dropped and was being searched for.
Healthcare costs
Daily Jang (29 July 2019) reported that the pharmaceutical industry had, in complete disregard for the SRO of the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA), raised prices for essential and life-saving drugs by much more than the 9 to 15 percent allowed by that authority. The report stated that prices for such essential drugs had been increased anywhere from 35 to 200 percent.
Eid Rumble
According to Daily Jang (29 July 2019), a rickshaw driver transporting a person and their sacrificial goat for Eid got into a spat with a traffic warden. The rickshaw driver and his passenger with the goat proceeded to beat up the traffic warden and rip up his uniform – and then made good their escape.
On bankrupt politics
Chief Minister of Punjab Usman Buzdar was quoted by Daily Jang (29 July 2019) as saying that the people had rendered bankrupt the politics of those who had made the country bankrupt through their corruption (awam ne mulk corruption se kangal karnay waalon ki siyasat kangal kar di).