ISLAMABAD, MAR 06 (DNA) – Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday said corruption was the biggest problem for the country, and his government would support the judiciary and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for convicting the corrupt politicians.

Speaking in the National Assembly after winning the vote of confidence, he said, “The society has to fight against corruption and decide it will not allow corruption. We have to raise our moral standards to fight the menace, and create a fair and just society.”

The prime minister sought the support of society in the fight against corruption to save the future generations from the corrupt politicians, who had been looting the country for the last 30 years.

He said Pakistan was not made for the billionaires like Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari. The latter was known as a corrupt person and the former was declared a proclaimed offender after he left the country after looting the public wealth.

Nawaz Sharif, who went abroad on medical grounds, was now making political plans and delivering speeches from there, he added. Imran Khan said both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, while in government, plundered the public money and took the country’s debt from Rs 6,000 billion to Rs 30,000 billion.

The corruption cases against the two persons were made in the previous regimes, he remarked. He said Yousaf Raza Gilani (as prime minister) refused to write a letter to the Swiss authorities on the court’s orders for the recovery of $ 60 billion stashed in the bank accounts of Switzerland.

Now the thieves and corrupt elements were trying to put pressure on him to get an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance), but he would continue his fight against them, he stated.

The prime minister thanked his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and allies for their support. The PTI would emerge more strong after the present difficult time, he added. = DNA

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DNA

KARACHI, MAR 6 – The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry has asked the government to put industry on priority for consistency in exports and a long-term economic growth, as the trade deficit has posted double-digit growth, widening by over 10% to $17.54 billion in the first eight months of 2020-21.

“The economic managers were boasting of their performance on the plea of current account balance, which remained surplus till Oct 2020 on the back of a sustained increase in remittances and a smaller trade deficit. But now the trade gap has been widening since Dec 2020, as it has swollen by almost 24% to $2.52 billion in Feb 2021 mainly due to decline in exports and soaring imports,” observed FPCCI’s ruling group BMP Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar. He was talking to a trade and industry delegation, who met him here in his office today.

This is the second consecutive month that country’s exports have been dropping from their previous levels, as the $2 billion worth of export receipts were the lowest in five months, he said and added that the exports had started picking up early this fiscal year and peaked to $2.4 billion in Dec, prompting jubilations by the government. Now this proved to be a short-term achievement, as the exports again started sliding towards a normal range of $2 billion, he added.

Mian Anjum Nisar observed that country’s exports have long remained around $2 billion a month and the trend did not significantly change despite 30% currency depreciation by this government during the past two and a half years. The Businessmen Panel (BMP) Chairman said the low exports volume and rising trade deficit were chronicle issues which should be resolved permanently. He said exportable items should be produced in accordance with the international demand to fully exploit the benefit of GSP-Plus status. He said that several industries and sectors were neglected in past. He said decisions should be made in national interest, keeping aside the personal agenda.

Mian Anjum Nisar called for a holistic approach to speed up economic growth, as COVID-19 has adversely impacted the world’s economy as well as Pakistan’s trade and industrial sectors.

“With a view to achieve consistency in current account surplus for a long period without compromising industrial growth the government will have to focus on increasing the exports and put the business and trade issues on priority, otherwise, the economic problems and balance of payment could further disturb with the growing trade deficit,” said FPCCI ex-president.

The increase in exports during previous months were due to temporary shifting of global trade from China towards South Asian countries and replenishing the dried inventories by the buyers in the US and Europe after the global economy gradually started recovering from the effects of Covid-19. Quoting the PBS, he said that on a month-on-month basis, the exports decreased by over 4.5% to $2.04 billion. As a result, the trade deficit further widened by 24% in Feb. He said the central bank’s data for the first seven months showed 3.8% decline in exports. Instead of resolving the issues, the government has been claiming huge success on the exports front through social media propaganda.

The government has already missed the annual export target in its first two years. For the current fiscal year, it has set the export target at $22.7 billion, which will require 6.2% growth. This seems an uphill task now; given the fact that the little growth in exports has been disputed by the SBP while exports in the first half were equal to only 72% of the annual target.

He said the government has to formulate long-term and consistent policies for the revival of industry and considerable improvement in exports, as contrary to regional countries, Pakistan’s exports have remained stagnant during the past 40 years, and unless attention was paid to all factors that hamper industrial and exports growth, the country might not be able to achieve desired results. Some of the impediments to industrial growth include cost of production, poor governance, obsolete technology, lower productivity, lack of competitiveness, supply constraints, and energy issues. He said that the current export portfolio is marred by a lack of diversification, as few products are exported by some exporters to limited markets. So, a major enhancement in exports requires huge and wide structural reforms.

ISLAMABAD, MAR 6 – In a show of strength, Prime Minister Imran Khan secured 178 votes – six more than required – on Saturday to win the vote of confidence from the National Assembly.

The special session was called after the premier voluntarily sought a trust vote following an upset in Senate elections. Addressing the assembly after his win in a wide-ranging speech, the premier said “no one can stop Pakistan’s progress”.

He also announced electoral reforms, saying: “We are doing things; we are fully engaged with overseas Pakistanis so they can cast votes, and secondly, we are bringing electronic machines.”

“We are bringing this system so that the one who loses, accepts defeat.”

The premier needed 172 votes to win the confidence vote. Announcing the result, NA Speaker Asad Qaiser said Prime Minister Imran had been elected to the post with 176 votes eight years ago. “Today, he has secured 178 votes,” he said.

According to the breakdown, 155 PTI lawmakers voted in favour of the premier.

Besides, seven lawmakers from the MQM-P, five each from the Balochistan Awami Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, three from Grand Democratic Alliance and one each from the Awami Muslim League and the Jamhoori Watan Party cast their votes supporting the prime minister.

Independent candidate Aslam Bhotani also reposed confidence in the premier through his vote.

‘I thank you’

Addressing the House after securing the trust vote, PM Imran thanked government lawmakers, including his allies, for staying by his side through thick and thin.

He commended the way his party reacted after the Islamabad Senate seat upset, saying that this experience had made them tougher.

“To my parliamentarians and team, I thank you. Yesterday evening when I saw you, I realised that you were really hurt when we lost the Senate election of Hafeez Shaikh.

“But when I saw you, I felt very good because I saw a team in you and our team will get stronger. Because God will test your faith again and again,” the prime minister said.

The premier said he knew of many individual MNAs who tried hard to attend the vote today but could not make it as some were facing health issues. “I thank all of you,” he said.

‘Embarrassing elections’

PM Imran said it was embarrassing the way elections were held in Pakistan. He named PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, saying they were “thieves” who were blackmailing his government for an NRO.

He said Zardari was commonly referred to in phrases such as “one Zardari trumps all (aik Zardari sab pe bhaari)” and “Mr 10 per cent” because of his corrupt practices.

The PM further said that Sharif had faked sickness to go abroad so that he could avoid the legal consequences of his corruption and theft.

“These people even tried to sabotage FATF legislation and had linked passing of the FATF legislation to amendments in the NAB law,” the PM said, adding that they had put the country at stake to get rid of corruption cases against them.

He criticised Yusuf Raza Gilani, who beat PTI’s Hafeez Shaikh in the recent Senate polls, as one of the most corrupt politicians in the country.

“Just look at his [Gilani’s] wealth and assets before he became the PM and do a comparison with his assets after he became the PM. The picture will be clear,” Imran said.

He said future generations of the country can only be saved if the menace of corruption is removed.

“We are on a way to economic recovery. The current account is improving constantly and now even the rupee is strengthening against the dollar without government intervention,” he said.

The PM said the biggest pressure he was facing was to tackle the issue of inflation, which he said was a natural result of the rupee devaluing.

“But my team and my government is doing everything it can to control this issue and we will keep working,” he said.

Lawmakers congratulate PM

Immediately after announcing the result, the speaker gave the floor to Amir Liaquat, who recited poetry as an ode to Imran Khan. After him, MQM’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui took the floor and congratulated the premier on his success.

“You got the confidence [of the House], now it is your turn to return that confidence to the nation,” Siddiqui said, asking the premier to fulfill his promises to his party and the country.

Following Siddiqui, Fehmida Mirza spoke, saying that the government’s allies would always stand with the premier whenever there was a threat to the continuity of democracy despite any grievances they might have.

Mirza then went on to criticise the way in which the recently concluded Senate elections were held, questioning whether the Election Commission of Pakistan was able to guard the process against “corrupt practices”.

Earlier, lawmakers, including PM Imran, arrived at the Parliament House while PTI supporters and PML-N leaders gathered outside.

Tensions were high as both sides became confrontational and PML-N leaders alleged they had been manhandled.

Before the session began, Punjab CM Usman Buzdar, Balochistan CM Jam Kamal, Senate Chairperson Sadiq Sanjrani and other officials met in NA Speaker Asad Qaiser’s chamber, where they discussed the vote of confidence.

According to the participants of the meeting, the prime minister has “set a unique trend”. The chief ministers, senators and other high-ranking officials watched the session from the galleries.

The session started at 12:15pm with recitation from the Holy Quran and a naat without the opposition in attendance. Later, the national anthem was played in the House at which all lawmakers stood up in respect.

Following this, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tabled the resolution on which voting will be held and the NA speaker read out rules on how the voting will be conducted. Later, bells were sounded inside the House so that all lawmakers outside the premises could make their way inside after which the doors were sealed.

The resolution, which was read out by the speaker again, says: “That this House reposes confidence in the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mr Imran Khan, as required under clause (7) of Article 91 of the Constitution Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

After reading out the resolution, the speaker directed the legislators who wanted to caste their votes to make their way to another chamber inside the House, where NA staff recorded their votes.

Show of strength

PM Imran had announced earlier this week that he would seek a vote of confidence from his party’s lawmakers, following an upset in the Senate election on March 3. While the ruling PTI made gains, it experienced a shocking upset on the Islamabad seat where PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani bagged 169 votes, defeating the government’s nominee, Hafeez Shaikh, who received 164 votes, meaning that several ruling alliance MNAs had voted for the Pakistan Democratic Movement candidate.

This is the first time a prime minister has undertaken such an exercise after the passage of the 18th Amendment.

Prior to this, the law required every prime minister to take a vote of confidence from the Assembly within 30 days of being elected — a vote that Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and other prime ministers of the past had to seek after their election.

Since 2010, however, the law does not require such a practice. In fact, according to clause 7 of Article 91 of the Constitution, the president “shall not exercise his powers under this clause unless he is satisfied that the prime minister does not command the confidence of the majority” in the Assembly.

Nobody questions and doubts the honesty, commitment and integrity of Prime Minister Imran Khan, but people do expect that all those working under him shall also contribute to nation building with same zeal and spirit. Nobody knows better than Imran Khan that how important the team work and the TEAM is to emerge as victorious out of even tumultuous times

Comment

Ansar M Bhatti

ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister is all set to get vote of confidence today from the National Assembly. Confidence vote should not be a problem for the PTI along with its allies, forms majority in the house. Besides, the confidence vote somehow shall heal wounds of ruling alliance caused by the defeat of Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh.

Another development that govt and the prime minister should take rather seriously is the reaction of the Election Commission of Pakistan to the speech of the premier on national hook-up on Thursday night in which he chose to take the ECP to task for what he termed ‘ its failure in plugging horse-trading’ due to which Yousaf Raza Gillani emerged victorious despite the fact the Opposition alliance did not have the required number of votes in the National Assembly.

All said and done, what happened in the Senate elections is not something new. Pakistan’s history is fraught with such sad incidents but as the Election Commission mentioned in its press release that if things have come to such a pass, the respective governments themselves are responsible for that. It was their duty to do legislation to put an end to such practices however they failed to do so mainly because of political expediency and vested interests.

The government demand for an open ballot was more than genuine but unfortunately it seemed politically motivated. The govt wanted to get its candidate elected for it knew very well even PTI members may not vote for Hafeez Shaikh. Now when this election is over, the question is will the govt still believes in open ballot for future elections? And will the govt would like to have election of Chairman Senate through open ballot? The govt, it is believed, may not vouch for open balloting anymore. The figures show that the opposition has majority in the Senate and if everything goes well the person nominated by the opposition for this covet slot shall sail smoothly.

If the government wants to win the Senate chairman election then it has to do the same tricks which the Opposition did in order to get Yousaf Raza Gillani elected. So, situation is quite interesting. If it were a principled stand of the govt regarding open ballot then it is supposed to stick to that principle in case of the election of the Chairman Senate as well. Regrettably, the recent happenings have cast adverse effects on already weak and fragile democratic order in the country.

The opposition parties are only concerned about dislodging the government come what may. They never talk of problems the common folks are experiencing on daily basis. We, perhaps, are right in the middle of the quagmire that if we do not want to continue with this govt then who? The want of any suitable options seems to be a source concern for all and sundry and powers that be.

The PTI government has a mandate of ruling or rather serving this country and countrymen for five years. It has every right to complete its term. But it has to deliver. And deliver to the satisfaction of the people who voted this government to power.

On international front, Pakistan is facing isolation. Our closest friends have chosen to keep a distance. Mega projects like CPEC are almost at a standstill. FATF sword is still dangling on over heads. GDP growth is not showing desired improvement. Exports targets are yet to be met.  In such circumstances we need friends not foes, both at home and abroad. Nobody questions and doubts honesty, commitment and integrity of Prime Minister Imran Khan, but people do expect that all those working under him shall also contribute to nation building with same zeal and spirit. Nobody knows better than Imran Khan that how important the team work and the TEAM is to emerge as victorious out of even tumultuous times.

RAWALPINDI, MAR 5 – General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff( COAS) visited field training area in Cholistan Desert today.

COAS was briefed about conduct modalities of 2 weeks long Corps level exercise Zarb e Hadeed. The exercise aimed at enhancing operational preparedness of formations by creating synergy among Infantry, Mechanized Forces, Combat Aviation, Surveillance platforms, Army Air Defence and Artillery while operating within defensive Operation cycle of a Corps.

The troops and units participating in the exercise displayed great degree of professionalism and synergy while conducting offensive and defensive maneuvers in different phases of the exercise.

Appreciating dedication and professionalism of participating troops, COAS expressed complete satisfaction over combat readiness and training standards of Bahawalpur Corps. Excellent training and commitment enhance the operational capability for effective response to all threats and challenges, COAS emphasised.

Later, COAS visited Logistic installations of Bahawalpur Corps and lauded  the engineering skills and maintenance standards achieved.

Earlier, on arrival at exercise area, COAS was received by Corps Commander Lieutenant General Khalid Zia.

ISLAMABAD, MAR 05 (DNA) – Reacting to the press release issued by the ECP over allegations raised by PM Imran Khan, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Friday said press release statement response seems ‘inappropriate.”

Addressing a press conference along with the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Shibli Faraz, Fawad Chaudhry said that the federal government respects every state institution of the country including the Election Commission of Pakistan.

“ECP is respectable to us and will remain”, said Fawad and added that institutions show their impartiality through practical steps, not through press releases. PM said horse-trading during Senate polls was not stopped, was that the matter of shame for ECP, asked Fawad.

The minister while extending every possible support to the ECP, urged for a joint mechanism devised by the ECP and the government to stop rigging in the polls. He said that the directions of the Supreme Court for holding fair and free Senate elections were neglected by the ECP. We are not planning to hold any protest in front of the supreme electoral body, Fawad said.

The video of Ali Haider Gilani, the audio of Nasir Hussain Shah and Maryam’s statement about PML-N ticket are the proofs of rigging, which needs to be investigated. Fawad Chaudhry said that we are confident that Prime Minister Imran Khan will successfully obtain the vote of confidence from the National Assembly.

So far our 177 MNAs have reached the federal capital. The members of PTI and coalition partners have assured their support to PM Imran Khan in the National Assembly in obtaining vote of confidence. Earlier in the day, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had expressed its disappointment over the allegations raised by PM Imran Khan during his address to the Nation. = DNA

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