LAHORE:

Buoyed by record remittances, the government appeared to have found new confidence on Friday as it took a victory lap and ridiculed the PTI call for civil disobedience as a failure.

Running on cash sent home by overseas Pakistanis, the ruling PML-N took a swipe at the PTI, claiming the party’s call for civil disobedience had lapsed and foreign remittances hit a record high despite former PM Imran Khan’s. attempt to arouse anti-government sentiment.

The ruling party also praised the overseas Pakistanis for the “categorical rejection” of the attempts to destabilize the economy.

“Congratulations to the nation on the dawn of prosperity as the night of anarchists ends… overseas Pakistanis have rejected those who called for civil disobedience,” Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement.

The remarks came as the SBP announced $3.1 billion in remittances for December, up 29.3% year-on-year and up 5.6% from the previous month.

Adding to today’s results, PIA resumed its long-suspended flights to Europe, with the first flight to Paris taking off after a hiatus of more than four years.

The development came as the PTI had earlier launched its civil disobedience movement demanding the release of political prisoners and a judicial inquiry into the May 9, 2023 events and the November 26 crackdown. Imran Khan had urged supporters to initiate the movement by stopping remittances in its first phase.

Cheering the nation on progress, Aurangzeb credited the record transfers as a categorical rejection of the PTI’s campaign, saying, “Overseas Pakistanis have rejected the pleas of these anarchists by sending $3.1 billion to Pakistan”.

On the resumption of PIA flights to Europe, she accused PTI of damaging national assets with reckless statements. “Who will be responsible for the loss of four and a half years?” she asked.

She further claimed that the PML-N had saved Pakistan from default and brought inflation to a record low.

Similarly, Bilal Azhar Kayani, convener of the National Parliamentary Task Force on Sustainable Development Goals, called the remittance figures a “categorical rejection” of the PTI’s campaign.

In a statement issued on X, he said the development was further evidence of Pakistan’s macroeconomic recovery under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Kayani praised the critical role overseas Pakistanis continue to play in strengthening the country’s economy.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also praised the nation for both the transfer milestone and PIA’s successful flight to Paris. “The claims of those who had chanted to stop the country’s economy have been found to be baseless,” he said.