Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif calls his predecessor Imran Khan 'liar and cheat whose policies ruined country'

Pakistan: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed former PM Imran Khan a 'liar and cheat' saying his policies left the country in 'economic ruins.' Sharif further said that Khan's policies incurred 'heavy damage to the country's domestic and foreign affairs.'

Notably, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said in a report that Pakistan's economy is forecast to slow to 3.5 per cent in the financial year 2022-2023 due to reasons like massive floods and policy tightening. Pakistan was hit by possibly the worst flooding in its history in August leaving around 1600 dead.

"Never before I was concerned about our country's future. Imran has injected an infinite amount of poison into this society and made it hugely polarised as never before. He is distorting facts and creating hate," Sharif said, as quoted by The Guardian.

Sharif further accused Khan of managing the country's affairs to 'suit his own personal agenda in a manner which can be only described as the most inexperienced, self-centred, egotistical, immature politician in the history of this country.'

Talking about his efforts to rebuild relations with several of Pakistan's foreign allies, Sharif noted that he was 'shocked' at the UN general assembly in New York earlier this month when several world leaders, (without taking names), had personally commented on Khan's conduct. "Some leaders told me in person about his personality. They told me he was rude, he told lies and he is a ‘narcissist’, quote-unquote," said Sharif.

Sharif also reacted to Khan's 'leaked audio' controversy and accused him of 'creating unrest in the nation, and chaos in the state institutions.' "A thief who has been caught red-handed is maligning state institutions just to escape punishment. After creating unrest in the nation, the conspirator (Imran Khan) is trying to create chaos in the state institutions," the Pakistan PM said.