Govt not to come under pressure on opposition’s blackmailing: Shibli Faraz

KARACHI: Federal Minister Senator Shibli Faraz has said that the government had no role at all in filing of the FIRs of sedition against leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Speaking at a press conference here at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, Shibli said the opposition parties had formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to protect the wealth accumulated through corruption and not for any political cause. They were trying to divert the attention of masses from their corruption and seek an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) from the government. He said the government would not come under any pressure of opposition’s blackmailing. The minister said the opposition parties had made politics a business. “They cannot pressurise the government for any kind of NRO.” The government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan will continue its struggle to recover the looted national wealth, he added.

Senator Shibli Faraz said that the federal government has taken no unconstitutional or illegal step by promulgating the ordinance to establish the Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA). The federal minister said that the Constitution has the provision for promulgating the ordinances and the government has adopted a legal method to establish the PIDA.

He said that the government was developing a mechanism to link the provision of advertisements to media houses with the payment of salaries to their employees. The government had paid over Rs1 billion to the media outlets to clear their outstanding dues and tried to ensure that the employees’ salaries were paid from that amount, he said.

Earlier, talking to media persons at the Mazar-e-Quaid, the federal information minister said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was given the mandate by the people to bring those who had plundered the national wealth to justice.

The incumbent government, which had completed two years in office, was making all-out efforts to steer the country out of crises and put it on the path to development. Everyone would have to work for the country's development.

He said Karachi was the country's economic hub and despite limited resources, the federal government had initiated K-IV, Karachi circular railway and sewerage system. Replying to a question regarding the problems faced by the Karachiites due to the recent rains, Shibli Faraz said Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed for taking immediate steps to resolve them.

Like the mega city, he said, the PTI government also accorded importance to the development of other areas of Sindh to bring themat par with the rest of the country. Unfortunately, the Sindh government was not playing its due role in this regard, he regretted.

Senator Shibli Faraz said that this was on record that first time the government had given advertisements to the newspapers, through transparent mechanism. He expressed these views while talking to the office-bearers of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) here.

Speaking on the occasion, President APNS Hameed Haroon briefed the minister in detail about the problems of print media, especially, the problems which were being confronted by the Sindhi newspapers. Secretary General APNS Sarmad Ali and other office-bearers also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Shibli Faraz highlighted the need for a coordinated mechanism to help address genuine grievances of electronic media in the country. During a meeting with the office-bearers of Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), he said regular contact and mutual cooperation could help in efficient handling of issues, ultimately paving the way for their proper solutions.

Responding to a detailed presentation by PBA President, Shakil Masood, he said it had definitely added to his understanding of the problems being faced by the PBA members and the underlying factors that ought to be mutually addressed.