ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top political leaders on Saturday described 2022 as a “tough year” that brought multiple crises, including the displacement of millions in the wake of unprecedented monsoon floods, while hoping for better times ahead.
The country witnessed major political turbulence after the downfall of former prime minister Imran Khan’s administration in a no-confidence vote last April which also deepened its economic woes amid a deteriorating security situation.
“2022 was another tough year for Pakistan,” said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a Twitter post. “The floods added to our economic miseries. My new year resolution is to use my time and all my energies this year to alleviate the sufferings of the people of Pakistan, to rehabilitate the survivors of flood and to put Pakistan on the path of development and stability.”
Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari offered a more positive assessment of the year, saying it was the time when “parliament triumphed” and political parties “came together to save Pakistan.”
“2023 will be the year hope triumphs over hate, truth over lies & unity triumphs over division,” he added.
Reflecting on his bittersweet memories of the year, ex-PM Khan summed up 2022 by quoting the opening line of Charles Dickens’s “A Tale of Two Cities.”
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he wrote in a string of Twitter posts.
Khan said his government was removed in the wake of “a conspiracy triggered by supreme self-interest” despite its economic performance.
He also noted the people of Pakistan had disapproved how his administration was dislodged, helping his party win 75 percent of by-elections subsequently.
The former prime minister maintained he was hopeful to form the next government after the 2023 general elections, adding his administration would bring about “substantial structural reforms” to get Pakistan out of the ongoing crises.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s climate minister Sherry Rehman urged people not to lose sight of all the families in need of help in the wake of the floods.
“Millions of our brothers and sisters are still living homeless in these winters,” she said. “My message to people on the New Year is to support the flood affected people … Their rehabilitation is a shared responsibility of all of us. We should all be hopeful for the year 2023.”
