Govt behaviour should improve for CoE: Ayaz

Ag APP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Ayaz Sadiq has said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government should not consider his party’s offer for a Charter of Economy (CoE) as its weakness.

Debating on the budget in the National Assembly on Saturday, he said while the Leader of Opposition Shahbaz Sharif and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership had talked about evolving a joint strategy to improve the national economy; “it should not be taken as any weakness”.

The former National Assembly speaker said the opposition was not desperate for the CoE, if the government had no interest in it. “There is a need to mend behaviours if anyone wants to move towards the CoE in the supreme national interest.”

This mention of a charter of economy comes the government signalled its willingness to sit down with the opposition on the CoE. Late on Friday, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser tweeted that Prime Minister Imran Khan had agreed to the constitution of a special committee for the CoE to cope with economic challenges facing the country, after Shahbaz and Asif Ali Zardari suggested it in the budget debate. He cautioned the special committee will consider only current economic conditions and will propose solutions. During the debate on Saturday, Sadiq said he has great respect for all colleagues in Parliament and stressed the need to follow democratic norms, saying both the opposition and government should accept each other. He hoped that prevailing good environment in the House would further improve in the coming days with collective efforts of all parliamentary parties.

He reiterated that opposition was ready to cooperate with the government on national issues and there must be the culture of respecting each other, adding, the opposition would play its due role in national development.

He criticised the government economic policies and austerity drive, and suggested the government to revisit funds allocated for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. Sadiq also asked for reviewing changes made in income tax slabs and taxes imposed on edible items.

He added the opposition should get input from the business community and other stakeholders for the proposed charter so the economic strategy could be made more effective.