Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was in New York last week to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
When he embarked on his first trip to represent the country at the UNGA, there were reports that he would be staying at The Plaza in New York.
A nightly rent for a hotel room is around $900 (roughly Rs. 221,000).
This sparked an online debate as to why the Prime Minister was wasting money by staying in a five-star hotel with his delegation, especially at a time when Pakistan’s economy is under pressure and the country is ravaged by monster floods.
Now, PM Shahbaz’s focal person on digital media, Muhammad Abubakar Umar, has claimed that the PM paid his own expenses during his stay in New York.
reported that the Prime Minister took a commercial flight to New York and paid for the ticket from his own pocket.
وزیراعظم شہباز شریف کےاقوام متحدہ کے دورہ کےدوران ان کی رہائش کے حوالےسے جھوٹی خبریں پھیلائی گئیں۔حقائق کچھ یوں ہیں؛#UNGA کے دوران دنیا بھر سے شریک حکمرانوں کی حفاظت کی ذمہ داری امریکہ کی Secret Serviceکے پاس تھی اور تمام حکمران ان کی منظور شدہ قیام گاہ پر ہی ٹھہر سکتے تھے
— Abubakar Umer (@abubakarumer) September 25, 2022
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Talking about the Prime Minister’s decision to stay at The Plaza, Umar said that during the UNGA, it was the duty of the US Secret Service to ensure the security of the visiting dignitaries. Guests could only stay in hotels that were cleared by the US Secret Service.
He claimed that Shahbaz Sharif as Punjab Chief Minister during 2008-2018 had always paid his own expenses during foreign visits.
