Opposition feeling heat of accountability process: Faraz

Shibli Faraz says any minister found involved in malpractices would be brought to book

ISLAMABAD:

Minister for Information Senator Shibli Faraz on Saturday lambasted the opposition parties, which, according to him, are once again uniting to pressure Prime Minister Imran Khan as they have started feeling the heat of the accountability process.

“The opposition parties are holding meetings to pressure Imran Khan to stop the accountability process but the PM will never budge from his principled stance,” said Faraz while addressing a joint news conference along with Prime Minister's Inspection Commission Chairman Ahmed Yar Harraj.

The information minister appreciated Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed’s proposal to form 120 accountability courts, saying the opposition parties are feeling the heat. “So they are organising so-called all-party conferences (APCs) due to these developments,” he said.

To a question, he said the opposition parties – particularly the PPP and the PML-N – are divided and have no consensus on any issue. “They have differences of opinion on most issues but they get united when they fear the accountability process,” he said.

He said the PTI is the only party which expelled its provincial assembly lawmakers who violated the party policy in the Senate elections.

“Imran Khan has been struggling against the corrupt system for 24 years and there is no place for corrupt elements in his party.”

He said the PM has been keeping an eye on all ministers and anyone involved in malpractices would be brought to book, adding that the PTI-led government is also introducing a number of reforms in all national institutions to ensure transparency as promised in its manifesto.

The minister also defended the government policy for coronavirus pandemic and said Pakistan under the leadership and vision of Imran Khan has handled the situation much better than many advanced countries having strong economies and modern healthcare systems.

He said now the entire world has appreciated the approach of the Pakistan government both to control the spread of coronavirus and also to protect the people from hunger and unemployment.

“The strategy adopted by Prime Minister Imran against coronavirus is spot on as other countries are trying to replicate it in their own countries,” he said, adding that the Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) is an important institution which makes payments for all public sector procurements and the federal government is bringing reforms to this key department as well.

He said it has been noticed that purchases made by the government are costlier than the similar purchases made by the private sector as the AGPR had to be paid bribes for clearance of bills and issuance of cheques.

He said the institutions add the amount paid to the AGPR in the cost of the items purchased, adding that as per an estimate, every year Rs1 trillion purchases are made by the federal government, and Rs150 billion to Rs175 billion are paid as additional cost.

The minister said similar purchases and procurements are made at the provincial level at higher costs resulting in loss to the national exchequer.

This, he said, does not include public sector corporations and independent institutions like the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the National Highway Authority (NHA) and others.

He said during the past 10 years the national exchequer suffered a loss of Rs4 trillion due to malpractices in the AGPR but the past governments took no action to stop these practices as they were also receiving commission and kickbacks from the system.

“Prime Minister Imran neither has any personal business nor his family is in politics, so he has the moral courage and mandate to rectify these malpractices continuing for many decades,” he added.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP