00:00 I don't see a slogan in the current events.
00:03 I don't think it's about giving respect to the vote.
00:05 Ever since the PDM government came into power,
00:08 I think a few weeks before that,
00:11 giving respect to the vote was sidelined.
00:14 And replaced by?
00:16 Nothing. You struggle for the statement.
00:20 What is it that you go and sell in the market?
00:24 What do the people know?
00:25 That's why in 2017,
00:27 we tried to start a movement
00:30 that those people, especially the judges and the journalists,
00:33 who were in the 2017-2018 elections,
00:36 played a very negative role.
00:40 And Pakistan had to face destruction.
00:42 Not just the PMLN, but their leadership as well.
00:45 First, we thought that this would be a narrative
00:47 and the people would follow you.
00:49 I think that narrative was very harsh.
00:52 Why get stuck in that?
00:53 Now, when the narrative is of mutual understanding,
00:54 then let's move towards mutual understanding.
00:56 So, the economic agenda.
00:57 The problem with the economic agenda is that
00:59 the 16-month government that came into power,
01:01 has to be sidestepped.
01:03 You saw that we go back to 2017.
01:06 We don't even come back to 2018.
01:08 So, in 2017, we go and stop it.
01:10 Mr. Ishaq Dar went in 2017.
01:13 So, we are trying to make our economic achievements
01:16 from 2013 to 2017
01:18 into a narrative and tell the people
01:21 that if we come back,
01:23 then first, forget about those 16 months.
01:26 I think Mr. Shabaz Sharif himself doesn't even mention it.
01:28 And intentionally, we try to avoid it.
01:31 But avoiding it is not that easy.
01:34 Because the people are the real stakeholders.
01:37 The people have travelled.
01:38 Is it working?
01:39 Your replacement narrative that
01:41 we have shifted from 'Vote Kuch Zind Do'
01:43 and now we have to come up with a new economic agenda.
01:45 But in the economic agenda,
01:47 the problem is that the recent history is that 16 months.
01:50 And the inflation that has happened in that,
01:52 the increase in poverty,
01:54 the increase in unemployment,
01:56 how can you sidestep that?
01:58 But Mr. Zubair, you were telling us that
02:00 if there was no vote of no confidence,
02:02 Pakistan would have defaulted.
02:04 PTI had done so much harm to the economy.
02:06 Actually, there are two opinions on that.
02:08 My opinion was different at that time.
02:10 And that opinion was different because
02:12 there are two indicators that you are not defaulting.
02:14 Default is on the dollar.
02:16 Rupee outstanding or liabilities are not on it.
02:18 The dollar that you have to give,
02:20 you cannot print the dollar.
02:22 If you have to pay the dollar,
02:24 do you have so many reserves in the state bank?
02:26 And your obligations?
02:28 And that affects the exchange rate.
02:30 If you look at the exchange rate
02:32 from August 2021 to February 2022,
02:34 these are facts,
02:36 you can take it out and give it to anyone.
02:38 So the exchange rate,
02:40 the interbank rate,
02:42 was in the mid-170s.
02:44 More or less stable,
02:46 you can say.
02:48 Because the reserves were in 16-17 billion.
02:50 I am not saying commercial bank reserves.
02:52 I am talking about state bank reserves.
02:54 Which was again comfortable.
02:56 Not big enough, but comfortable enough.
02:58 After that you saw that it started to fall.
03:00 And there came a time when
03:02 it went below 3 billion dollars.
03:04 And because of that,
03:06 you saw the impact on the exchange rate.
03:08 So when in February,
03:10 that decision was made,
03:12 of the no confidence vote,
03:14 at that time,
03:16 if this issue had been there,
03:18 if Mian Nawaz Sharif,
03:20 who said the truth,
03:22 and Mian Nawaz Sharif speaks the truth,
03:24 he had just been to a chamber,
03:26 Lahore chamber,
03:28 and he had given a very important statement,
03:30 that on May 23rd,
03:32 which was just 5 weeks
03:34 after taking over,
03:36 he was going to dissolve.
03:38 And he even said,
03:40 which is 100% correct,
03:42 that Shibaz Sharif, as Prime Minister,
03:44 even his speech was ready.
03:46 PM LN was ready to go to elections,
03:48 knowing that for 3 months,
03:50 there will be an interim government.
03:52 And knowing that Pakistan will not default.
03:54 That's why you were going.
03:56 So when the contradictions come,
03:58 that we will default,
04:00 or we would have done it.
04:02 So at the time of vote of no confidence,
04:04 there was no issue of default.
04:06 In my opinion, everyone has their own
04:08 relationship with the media.
04:10 January 2022, February 2022,
04:12 you also did programs.
04:14 You also came to the front media.
04:16 There were discussions, press conferences.
04:18 This was not an alarming thing.
04:20 And then, another thing,
04:22 which is very important,
04:24 that if that was an aspect,
04:26 then PM LN, PDM came,
04:28 and Pakistan was back with IMF.
04:30 Let me tell you this too.
04:32 This is also a fact,
04:34 that January 2022,
04:36 just a month, 2 months before
04:38 vote of no confidence,
04:40 at the end of January,
04:42 there was a bill of state bank,
04:44 which they wanted to pass,
04:46 which would get the control of the government,
04:48 and make the state bank independent.
04:50 That was a very strict bill.
04:52 And you remember, PM LN had opposed it.
04:54 That bill was passed,
04:56 according to the requirement
04:58 condition of IMF.
05:00 There was one more thing,
05:02 at the end of January,
05:04 a mini budget of 250 billion rupees,
05:06 which IMF wanted,
05:08 that you pass this,
05:10 and then IMF board will approve it,
05:12 which was done.
05:14 And on February 7th,
05:16 if I am not wrong,
05:18 you got the 7th tranche.
05:20 On September 1st,
05:22 when Mifta Ismail came back,
05:24 when the government came back,
05:26 Mifta Ismail went back,
05:28 we faced all those difficulties.
05:30 One thing I would like to mention,
05:32 that a big fault of PTI,
05:34 which was criminal,
05:36 at the end of February,
05:38 that Ukraine-Russia war had started.
05:40 Everyone knew that international oil prices
05:42 are going to go up.
05:44 How much no one knew.
05:46 And how much more severe war will happen,
05:48 and how long will it last.
05:50 So indications were that it will go up,
05:52 and it started going up.
05:54 Now at that time,
05:56 not only you are freezing,
05:58 which was against the IMF condition,
06:00 you decreased it,
06:02 and also announced that
06:04 it will remain till the end of June.
06:06 And you also said that electricity prices
06:08 decreased.
06:10 Yes, you took a trap for yourselves,
06:12 which was not good in overall context.
