File photo of PM Imran Khan chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet. PHOTO: RADIO PAKISTAN
The cabinet’s objection came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan met Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah during a daylong visit to Karachi, where the posting of a new provincial police chief was discussed among other issues.
After the meeting at the Governor House on Monday, reports did the rounds that both the prime minister and the chief minister had agreed that Mushtaq Mahar would be the new IGP. The reports had also indicated that the notification of Mahar’s posting would be issued soon.
However, the cabinet on Tuesday opposed Mahar’s appointment. “During the cabinet meeting, Mushtaq Mahar's name was suggested for the Sindh IGP position,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan told a news conference after the cabinet meeting.
“Cabinet members from the province strongly opposed the idea, and keeping in mind the majority view, the prime minister asked the Sindh governor to discuss the matter with the chief minister regarding the names put forth for the appointment of the IG,” she added.
Earlier, through a letter to the PM, Chief Minister Shah had proposed three names, including Mahar, for the posting. “The two [governor and CM] will hold discussions on the other names suggested for the IGP position as well as new names so that a consensus can be reached,” Awan said.
The cabinet, which met here with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, discussed a wide-ranging agenda, including the flour crisis, sugar price hike, legislative proposals, locust attack in the country and steps to tackle the spread of China virus and other issues.
The cabinet approved the government decision to reduce the prices of urea to provide relief to the farmers, while rejecting a memorandum of understanding pertaining to the award of contract for building 5 million houses to a Chinese company without the bidding process.
The ministers also decided to import sugar in order to reverse the trend of price hike, and formed a committee to give recommendations for reforms in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure fair and transparent elections.
At the outset of the meeting, according to Firdous Awan, Imran vowed to take every step to provide relief to the people, who are facing the brunt of inflation. He directed the national food security ministry and related departments to take all-out measures for the supply of edible items to the people.
The cabinet decided to curtail the powers of the president and the prime minister to declare any camp office except their residences. It was also decided that any public office-holder, including the president and the prime minister, will not have the facility of duty-free import of vehicle.
The cabinet approved amendments to the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Act, the Associated Press of Pakistan Ordinance and the Central Board of Film Censors Ordinance besides appointments of key government positions, the ministers said.
The cabinet decided to take every possible step to curb the price hike in the country. The ministers took notice of the rising sugar price and decided to import the sweetener to control its rate. The ministers pledged to take measures to provide relief to the masses.
The cabinet discussed a proposal for signing of an MoU between the housing ministry and a Chinese firm for the construction of 5 million houses. The ministers directed the ministry to review the proposal and ensure transparency in the process.
The cabinet was informed that current account deficit was cut by 73% during the first half of the current fiscal year. Besides, trade balance relating to goods has improved by 39%, exports grew by 4.5% and imports were down by 21% during the same period.
It was also informed that the remittances saw an increase of 3.3% and the forex reserves remained 31% higher, while the exchange rate remained stable during the Jul-Dec, 2019 period.
Tax collection improved by 17%, foreign investment went up by 381%, foreign direct investment recorded increase of 68%. The cabinet was also informed that bank lending to the agriculture sector increased by 24%, while the stock market soared to 40,735 points.
Coronavirus
Prime Minister's Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza briefed the cabinet on issue of Corona virus outbreak in China. He said that no virus case has been detected in Pakistan. About three suspect cases in Multan, Mirza said that they had not been diagnosed with the virus.
The cabinet was informed that the Chinese government had taken strict measures to contain the spread of the Corona virus, while the Pakistan government had decided to quarantine the passengers from China for 14 days in order to prevent any outbreak in the country.
The ministers noted that some 28,000 Pakistanis, including 500 students, lived in the Chinese city of Wuhan – the epicentre of the Corona virus outbreak. Mirza said that no Pakistani was infected with the virus, adding that the foreign ministry was in contact with the Chinese authorities.
Recovery of illegal spending
Responding to a question, Firdous said there was no crisis in Punjab and the coalition partners stood by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. About Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, she said the chief minister had some reservations. "There was no issue of corruption here,” he added.
Speaking at the news conference, Communications Minister Murad Saeed said the cabinet decided to recover billions of rupees illegally spent by the former rulers from the national exchequer and decides to amend rules for allocating special funds for camp offices.
Saeed said that former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gillani had set up five camp houses in Multan and Lahore despite having his own residences in these cities and all the expenses were incurred from the national exchequer. Similarly, former president Asif Ali Zardari had three camp offices.
“The Sharif brothers [former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif] maintained five camp offices, excluding the prime minister and chief minister houses,” the minister said.
“Shehbaz Sharif even declared Nawaz’s Jati Umra residence in Raiwind as his camp office after the latter’s disqualification by the Supreme Court in the Panama papers case. Nawaz Sharif had spent about Rs270 million on the fencing of his private residence of Jati Umra,” he said.
He said some 790 to 1,722 police personnel were deputed for the security of Zardari, which cost around Rs163.7137 billion to the national kitty, while a contingent of 2,753 policemen was deputed at Jati Umra. Separate police squads were deployed for the security of their children, he added.
Similarly, the minister said, Nawaz’s trip to London for medical check-up cost Rs340 million. Shehbaz Sharif used the former prime minister’s plane for 556 times and done shopping of luxury items of Rs8.7259 billion during his foreign sojourns, he added.
Saeed said said Nawaz Sharif, as prime minister, made some 25 private visits to London, costing Rs1.835 billion and Zardari, as president, made 69 private tours to different destinations abroad, costing Rs1.421 billion.
“The federal cabinet today made the big decision of recovering illegally spent taxpayers money by the former rulers,” he said. “If the misused public money was not surrendered by the accused the law would take its course and the action will be taken against them,” he said.
(With additional input from Agencies)
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