Talks with Shehbaz not Nawaz, says Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said the government would discuss electoral reforms with the opposition members of parliament (MPs) including Shehbaz Sharif, and not fugitives like Nawaz Sharif and Altaf Hussain.

“Many leaders of both the opposition parties, PML-N and PPP, are part of the parliamentary system and want its improvement, while Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Safdar, Fazlur Rehman and others, who are not part of the system, want to disrupt it for their personal benefits,” the minister said while briefing media persons about the decisions of the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Fawad Chaudhry termed PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif’s statement in which he stressed the need to "move on" while learning lessons from the past — as a "positive development". However, he ruled out Shehbaz’s meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the near future. He said the prime minister’s meeting with the opposition leader for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members was not mandatory.

The minister said for the continuation of democracy, the government and the opposition would have to agree on certain basic issues, and electoral reforms were vital in that regard. The cabinet, he said, was briefed about the electronic voting machines (EVMs) by PM’s Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan, Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haque, and Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz. He said the PTI had presented 49 proposals for electoral reforms, and if the opposition had any objection regarding the EVMs, then they should come up with their own suggestions.

Fawad said the PTI had lost 10 by-elections, while the PML-N after its defeat on just one provincial assembly seat started levelling allegations of rigging and foul play. Similarly, he said the PML-N had its government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with police and administration under its control, and had also appointed the Chief Election Commissioner, but still it got a drubbing in the polls after which its leadership started hue and cry. He said those who oppose the EVMs must present their own suggestions.

The minister said vaccination was in full swing in different cities of Pakistan, but Karachi and Hyderabad were lagging behind in the process. The Sindh government, he said, should improve its performance to control the pandemic in the mega cities. He said the federal government could only draw the attention of provincial governments to their governance problems for the betterment of people.

Fawad said at the outset of the cabinet meeting, it was informed that 23 more Pakistani prisoners returned from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. He said that so far hundreds of Pakistani citizens languishing in jails abroad due to petty crimes had been repatriated due to the personal efforts of Prime Minister Imran Khan. “It shows how much the prime minister cares for the overseas Pakistanis, especially the poor labour class,” he added.

Fawad said that in the prime minister’s eyes, the criterion for judging the performance of Pakistani missions abroad was how they treat the compatriots living there and help them. He said the officials posted at the missions should not only respect the overseas Pakistanis like their own family members, but also help resolve their problems.

Fawad said the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman briefed the cabinet on encroachments in various sectors of the federal capital. He said the prime minister directed that encroachments should be removed without any discrimination between the poor, and the powerful and wealthy. He said encroachments from the green areas would be eliminated at all costs.

"The Navy and Air Force have been told to remove encroachments," he said, adding that the prime minister ordered action to remove encroachments by "powerful people".

The minister said the cabinet approved the appointment of Muhammad Jabbar Khan as Chief Executive Officer of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco). He said the cabinet also discussed the issue of load shedding.

Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar told the cabinet that the current power supply in the country was between 24,000 and 26,000MW and no load shedding was being carried out. As regards the current economic indicators, Fawad said the cabinet was informed that despite the corona pandemic, the economy was moving in the right direction, with inflation showing a downward trend. He said the current account deficit was $1.9 billion, which was $20 billion in 2018. He said exports and foreign reserves had reached the record level, which was a manifestation of the prudent policies of the government.

The minister said the private sector was given Rs489 billion loans by the banks during the last fiscal year as compared to Rs75 billion in the previous year. The industrial sector, he said, was booming due to the effective policies of the government. He said duties on 61 items had been abolished to deal with the corona epidemic.

The cabinet, he said, also gave approval for the grant of loans of Rs315 billion to the youth under the Kamyab Jawan Programme. Fawad said the support price of cotton had been fixed at Rs5,000 per 40kg, which would attract farmers to sow the crop. He said the cabinet rejected a proposal to increase the salaries of ministers and ministers of state.