KARACHI: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) four-year rule which triggered extreme inflation in the country due to wrong economic policies and massive corruption of its leadership.
“The people fully know the difference between development, destruction and conspiracies,” she said while drawing a comparison between the destructive policies of the PTI government, and development-oriented and public-friendly initiatives of the coalition government during the past 15 months.
Addressing a news conference at the Karachi Press Club, she recalled that the PTI unleashed petrol bombs on the police when the PTI chief’s residence in Zaman Park was raided.
She said the PTI chief was the mastermind of May 9 incidents when the Law Enforcement Agencies’ vans, mosques, ambulances, memorials of martyrs and sensitive installations were set on fire.
On the contrary, she said the three-time prime minister brought prosperity and development in the country by ending load-shedding and curbing terrorism. Nawaz Sharif launched China Pakistan Economic Corridor, made the country’s defense impregnable and spread network of roads across Pakistan, she added.
Marriyum said curbs were imposed on the media and freedom of expression during the four-year of the PTI, however, the press clubs across the country provided a platform to the then opposition leaders to spread their messages among the masses and highlight fascism of the previous regime.
She said the PTI chairman was declared “predator” for media by the international organization, but Pakistan ranking in press freedom improved during the last fifteen months of the coalition government.
She said the PEMRA Ordinance of 2002 was a “black law” which was enacted by a dictator, but it was the coalition government which introduced amendments after twelve months of extensive consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
The PEMRA (Amendment) Bill 2023 would not be enacted until all the objections raised on the legislation were addressed, she added.
To a query, she said the appointment of caretaker PM was a constitutional responsibility of the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader, and the people would be informed as soon as the names for the purpose would be finalized.
The National Assembly would be dissolved on August 9, she said, adding responsibility of holding election was on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The minister expressed the confidence that the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) would be victorious in the next general elections under the leadership of former prime minister Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif.
She said that Gawadar was part of the country and the economic progress relied on the ports.
Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project was stopped by the previous government and it was restored by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif soon after coming into the power.
She said that the coalition government made the extensive efforts to chart the country on the path of progress and economic stability.
The minister said former Prime Minister Mohammed Nawaz Sharif said goodbye to International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2016 but the previous government signed the agreement again and then violated and suspended it for political gains.
She said the coalition government after coming into power re-negotiated the deal and reached a 9-month standby agreement with the IMF to save the country from default.
She said the prime minister had presided over the meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) which unanimously approved the results of Digital Census 2023. The CCI meeting had the participation of all provinces and political parties.
“Throughout the world, there is a system in place for attracting foreign direct investment, and the purpose of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is to facilitate direct foreign investment by providing a one-window operation to the investors,” she said while responding to another query.
The Prime Minister had brought all institutions together under the umbrella of SIFC, she said while condemning the propaganda which alleged that the certain lands were being handed over to the council.
She said process for investment in five sectors under SIFC had been uploaded on digital portal, which would be made accessible for general public and through this, all reservations will be addressed.
All provinces and ministries are made part of SIFC, she added.
The initiative would end Pakistan’s reliance on foreign debts, she said while citing examples Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Iraq, and other western countries that following the same initiative for attracting foreign investment.
At the outset of press conference, the minister expressed her grief over the train accident took place near Nawabshah today.
She prayed to the Almighty to rest the departed souls in the eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved families to bear irreparable loss.
The Federal Minister for Railways has held a detailed press conference regarding the incident, she said, adding relief operation was underway at the site of the accident.
The minister said all departments had been directed to actively participate in the relief operation.
She said the Railways minister had stated that inquiry report of the incident would be made public.
