ISLAMABAD: On Tuesday, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain stated the government will bring PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif back after reaching an agreement with the UK government, ruling out the idea of Nawaz’s voluntary return.
“We will bring back the PML-N leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif because he will never return,” Fawad remarked during a press conference after Prime Minister Imran Khan presided over the federal cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
The minister told the media that matters regarding Nawaz’s return had been settled with Britain to “a great extent”.
“We have been addressing the legal lacunas relating to the matter for the last two years. Rest assured, he will not return, but we will bring him back,” Fawad said emphatically.
About PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq’s claim about Nawaz Sharif’s return, he said that his statement caused a setback to Jati Umra [the residence of the Sharif family], wondering what he was talking about.
Fawad said the cabinet meeting approved the formation of a joint investigation committee (JIT) to probe the murder of Nazim Jokhio.
He said the cabinet approved the National Security Policy (NSP) and the policy documents would be made public in 10 days. He pointed out that the economic strategy had also been included in the national security policy and that security could not be guaranteed if your economy was not strong.
The minister said that an important point of the policy was that if the common man was not protected, or he was not satisfied with his economic, social and legal status, then no policy would be successful; therefore it is economy-centric. He contended that the policy was started in 2014 and was approved in 2021. In the past, the policy was not approved because there was no consensus.
He said that for the first time a government was in place which was capable of soliciting the views of all, and Imran Khan is a prime minister who is trusted by all.
The minister said that the policy also included the policies of internal security, food security and other ministries.
Fawad censures Fazl to give dates to topple PTI govt
He came down hard on the opposition and said Maulana Fazlur Rehman had been giving dates for three years against the government and recalled when the PTI came to power, the Maulana came to Islamabad in the first year of government with ‘leftovers’.
The minister said he thought he would overthrow the government, but had been giving a new date every three months; the media should bring out his statements of three years. He emphasised that the opposition was not capable of toppling the government, as it required leadership which they did not have.
“They are only issuing statements to appease their workers. Everybody knows that Imran Khan gave them [the] toughest time while in [the] Opposition,” he noted.
‘Sicilian mafia’
Fawad continued that there were daily-wage politicians in the Opposition and they earn their wages. He pointed out that after Rana Shamim’s affidavit, it became clear how big a Sicilian mafia Nawaz Sharif & Company is.
“They want to get the cases decided in their favour by putting pressure on courts,” he added.
Regarding reports of a ‘mini budget’, the minister emphasised that it was not a mini-budget but the government was making some financial adjustments.
“We have to go to IMF after what Nawaz Sharif and Zardari have done to Pakistan,” he added.
He advised the opposition to come up with an alternative to the “mini-budget” instead of merely issuing statements. He added that a bill in that regard would be passed in the current session and it had been initially discussed in the cabinet meeting.
There are reports the cabinet will meet again on Wednesday to further deliberate on the proposed ‘mini-budget’ and accord approval to it before being taken up in Parliament for consideration and adoption.
The minister said the cabinet meeting was briefed on urea production; agriculture has improved in the last two years, wheat, rice and sugarcane production has become historic, due to which purchase of vehicles, medicines and other items have increased.
He said that now there is a crisis of shortage of fertilizers, the price of fertilizers in the world market has increased by 12%, gas was supplied for urea production in Pakistan even in these two months when gas is not supplied to the urea plant.
Fawad claimed that Pakistan had the highest production of urea this year: At a time when the price of urea in the world market is more than 10,000, the price of urea in Pakistan is between Rs1,700 to 1,800. He added that urea was in short supply in many places due to hoarding and smuggling.
The cabinet, he noted, asked the Punjab government to stop stockpiling of urea, which would not reduce the price but would end the shortage.
The minister said that the appointment of the Board of Directors of House Building Finance Company Limited has been approved on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will include Shehzad Naqvi, Faiza Kapadia, Yasmeen Lari, Adnan Ali and Imran Ahad.
The forum has given in-principle approval to the draft for the Intermediate Board Coordination Commission to enhance the verification of documents, liaison and cooperation among all the boards of education. Likewise, approval has been given to appoint Muhammad Asim as an executive to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
He said that Citizen Building F-9 Park was being converted into Gandhara Heritage and Culture Centre and the committee would be headed by the prime minister. He said that Ms Nazia Shaheen and Shabar Abbas had been demanded by the Italian government to be taken into custody for their alleged involvement in a murder in Italy: They will be sent back to Italy.
Fawad said that similarly the UAE had demanded taking Muhammad Usman into custody and action was being taken to send him to the UAE.
He said that on the recommendation of Lahore High Court, approval has been given to shift Banking Court No. 1 from Multan to Dera Ghazi Khan.
Fawad said that approval has been given to set up a 200 million gallon water plant in Gwadar, this is a CPEC project and it will enable the citizens of Gwadar to get clean water.
He said that Dr Shaista Zeeshan has been approved to be appointed as For the next four years, Executive Member National Medical Authority has been permitted to change the composition of three pharmaceuticals on the proposal of the Drug Regulatory Authority, but there will be no change in their selling price.
According to the minister, some Rs23 million worth of items, including N95, safety shoes, and outfits, have been cleared for Cuba in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
On the proposal of the Ministry of Planning, the cabinet has referred the draught Pakistan Planning and Management Bill 2021 to the committee.
