Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry delivered a scathing indictment of Pakistan’s current governance, judiciary, and provincial administrations on Monday, accusing them of unchecked corruption and political persecution. Speaking to media outside an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), he dismissed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s credibility with a biting metaphor: “How can a leader provide relief to the public when he himself doesn’t even have clothes on his back?”
Chaudhry lambasted elite entitlements, alleging former PM Nawaz Sharif treated the official aircraft as a “private taxi” for London trips. He also condemned recent salary hikes for NA Speaker and Senate Chairman, and questioned why a provincial chief minister was allocated an Air Force jet for medical treatment in Geneva. “When the public suffers inflation, why do rulers live like kings?” he asked.
The PTI leader slammed the judiciary for handling politically motivated cases, particularly in Faisalabad, suggesting military courts would be more transparent. He highlighted the unfair restrictions on Imran Khan’s legal team in Adiala Jail, stating, “Such sham trials didn’t happen even under the worst dictators—this is medieval-era tyranny.”
Exposing alleged fiscal mismanagement, Chaudhry revealed Punjab spent Rs. 30 billion on Eid sanitation in three days—exceeding its annual cleanliness budget of Rs. 13 billion. “Money is being looted openly with zero accountability,” he said, warning of systemic collapse.
While urging political stability through an opposition alliance, Chaudhry accused the government of sabotaging dialogue. “The country is running in darkness,” he warned, “but how long can this last before total breakdown?” His remarks underscore deepening crises as public trust in institutions erodes.