The minister of Information and Broadcasting has taken his job quite seriously and literally. So he has started broadcasting to all and sundry by insisting that the incumbent government had no money in its kitty to afford so costly electricity from the newly constructed power plants.
He pointed out that the PML-N government left not only Rs1,100 billion circular debt but also the Govt now has to pay Rs 1,200 billion every month.
He revealed that a white-paper on power load shedding and corruption would shortly be released before the media, as the claims of the previous government to have ended load-shedding were unfounded.
New power plants were installed by the previous Govt with loans from China under fake companies for corruption and costly electricity was being generated,” he maintained.
Fawad said that this new government had already taken some key fundamental measures, like the prime minister doing away with his discretionary funds, while till 2017, ex-PM Nawaz Sharif had spent Rs21 billion on various things, using his discretion as premier.
Since Imran had made repeated statements that they would smash the begging bowl and desist from begging from anyone, Fawad explained that there was no decision on going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package, though massive debt liabilities were around. “All options will be explored,” he emphasised.
He said that one of the Options which prime minister would soon announce would be a plan for the overseas Pakistanis, who would invest in Pakistan in various projects and they will be offered in return facilities and concessions.
Giving his reaction on terror financing and fresh statement of the World Bank thereon, Fawad said the PM had informed the World Bank that FATF was an opportunity for Pakistan to deal with the menace of money laundering and the related law will be reviewed in the context of international law. He said the government was committed to the agreements signed with China under CPEC.
To a question on the government’s much-talked about programme of creating 10 million jobs and five million houses, he said the prime minister has decided to take briefing twice in a month on progress on the first 100-day programme of the government.
He explained that it would not be difficult to achieve the targets, as the GDP growth would be increased to 6.4 per cent while overseas Pakistanis were a precious asset of Pakistan.
On the relationship with the Army, Fawad Chaudhry said that both Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa were on the same page with regard to the internal and external security paradigm.
“The kind of optics given during the eight-hour briefing to the prime minister the other day was never experienced before. The meeting was held where the corps commanders meet, whereas previously this was done at the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) office.
Unlike the past, this meeting was chaired exclusively by the prime minister,” he pointed out. Chaudhry noted that the meeting on security was a manifestation of the fact that the civilian government and the military were on one page.
Fawad said the military top brass and the prime minister had detailed deliberations on the security paradigm and how to move forward during the next four-five years. In a lighter mood, he replied to a question that the food served at the meeting also reflected austerity.
The minister explained that the prime minister endorsed the army chief that the ‘right to carry the gun’ should be with the state and not with any banned outfit or private force, and those who would not adhere to this, would face elimination, and no outfit, even the one which might have sided with the government, would not be allowed to resort to violence or carry the gun.
“The meeting emphasised that the state just could not afford privatisation of this very right, but those elements willing to be part of the mainstream will be encouraged to surrender to the writ of the state,” he said.
Fawad said it was most important that the army chief assured full support to the government in the fight against terrorism and extremism, now to be fought and the National Action Plan (NAP) being implemented in the urban areas.
Fawad said the army chief said that they had already executed their part of the plan. However, Fawad said Imran’s opinion would be supported by all that the grave challenges, facing Pakistan, could not be tackled without the military’s support.
It was emphasised that the police and the other civilian law-enforcement agencies needed capacity building to carry out their share of the campaign against extremism and militancy in cities and towns. “Things will now move forward with the civilian ownership,” he quoted the army chief as saying in the meeting.
However regarding the relations with regional countries in future vis-à-vis the security paradigm, Fawad seemed to be worried. The Army Chief having visited Kabul twice, was of the opinion and the real issue there was that the US establishment was divided and may quit Afghanistan and in the given situation, things may turn out to be quite unpredictable for Pakistan.A stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interests, as the nation has already suffered a lot, said Fawad
As per him, the Pm and the COAS during the meeting also touched upon the US and India together planning things in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s was now finding itself on a limb regarding its role in Afghanistan.
The new govt in Islamabad wanted good relations with all the regional countries. The army chief said that not a country alone, but regions need to make progress and with that spirit, we wanted relations with our neighbours and regional countries and ensure our access to the Central Asian States.
The minister said Pakistan enjoyed deep-rooted relations with Saudi Arabia and was strengthening the friendship with Russia, while China was Pakistan’s time-tested friend and Iran was a neighbouring country, and added there would be support on issue-to-issue basis, with utmost priority to Pakistan’s interests.
To a question about the friendship with India, the minister maintained that peace was imperative to eliminate poverty in Pakistan and noted that there were two kinds of thinking in India as well; one was extremist, wanting to make Pakistan weak, while other wished to let Pakistan co exist peacefully.
The minister believed that with elections due next year in India, the leadership there might not be inclined to respond positively to Pakistan’s desire of talks to resolve issues, as already before the elections, Narendra Modi had got votes for his anti-Pakistan stance for India’s internal politics was quite complicated. He, however, said one headway was that the entry point at Narowal on Pak-India border was being opened.
