Imran rubbishes possibility of presidential system

ISLAMABAD: Responding to the opposition’s oft-cited warnings, Prime Minister Imran Khan has dismissed the possibility of the presidential system in the country, stressing no thought has been put into any such idea, Geo News reported.

Talking to senior newsmen here at the Prime Minister’s Office, Khan defended the government’s appointing of unelected members to the cabinet, saying he had to select the best available people in the country as the best talent had already left the country.

He said anyone failing to deliver would be removed from the slot and that he had tried to find the people with expertise in the relevant sector before induction in the cabinet. He said after five years, the people would question the government’s performance and they would have no concern whether those who delivered were elected or non-elected persons. To a question, he said Asad Umar was a very valuable person and would be back in the cabinet.

He stressed that Pakistan would emerge as a country with the brightest future in the region and hoped the country would progress as its cooperation with China was remarkably increasing and measures were also being taken to reduce the current account deficit.

During the interaction, mainly meant to brief media on landmark bills of public interest introduced by the government in the National Assembly, the Prime Minister said besides cooperating in all other fields, China would also introduce agriculture technology in Pakistan that would enhance country’s agriculture produce three-folds.

He said the country would have to go through the existing tough economic conditions for six months to a year but things would improve once the current account deficit was reduced. He hoped that the terms and conditions of the International Monetary Fund would not be tough ones as the IMF was also foreseeing the positive future perspectives of the national economy.

To a question, the Prime Minister asked why the opposition parties criticised him despite the fact that none of the corruption cases faced by their leaders were filed by him. He said the government never intervened in the courts or National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) affairs despite having some reservations and facing high hopes from the people.

He said under democracy, various opinions were converged to build a consensus but contrarily, kleptocracy was meant to serve individuals’ interests. He said the opposition parties were using the parliament to pressure the PTI and NAB.

He said on the very first day of his government, he had agreed to probe the alleged rigging in the polls but even then the opposition launched an agitation. He said the PTI had knocked at the relevant forums for a year before launching their demonstration.

“What are they protesting for?” he asked and cited examples from Western democracies where no parliamentarian “could even think of retaining his office if charged of any corruption”. He said democracy could only succeed amid meritocracy and accountability.

He said the then government had spent Rs 2 billion on Swiss case but later, Asif Ali Zardari was given NRO. He said after facing allegations by the political adversaries, he had produced even the 34 years old record of his property despite having no public office in the past.

Asked to comment on DG ISPR’s remarks against the leadership of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), he said he had received intelligence reports indicating the foreign funding to four to five people in the group.

He said due to terrorism, the area had faced the worst conditions. He said he had been persuading the provinces to contribute three per cent of their National Finance Commission share for uplift of tribal areas to avert any bad repercussions.

Print Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Law Minister Farogh Naseem, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan, and aides Naeemul Haq and Yousuf Baig Mirza and Adviser to Prime Minister Muhammad Shahzad Arbab were also present.