Sedition cases must not turn into joke: Shibli

Minister stresses need for placing conditions for filing of such FIRs

KARACHI:

In the wake of the registration of sedition cases against the PML-N’s top leaders as well as journalists, Information Minister Shibli Faraz on Thursday stressed the need for placing conditions for the filing of such FIRs to ensure that the matter did not “turn into a joke”.

However, he added that amending existing laws for this purpose was not a good idea as the registering of an FIR was already a difficult process.

“We don’t want to place the conditions through legislation. Otherwise, this will have negative impact,” the minister said in an interview with Express News.

Shbili said the Punjab government was looking into the registration of the FIR against former premier Nawaz Sharif and other PML-N leaders to stop individuals from filing sedition cases on a political basis.

“We tend to learn from experiences. A few situations emerge and expose the weaknesses in the system,” he added.

“I believe that even in such a situation, a process will be adopted. It is a serious issue, and can’t be taken as something normal. There should be a few conditions even if amendments are needed in the rules.”

Reiterating that the PTI-led government had nothing to do with the registration of the sedition case against the PML-N’s top leaders, the minister noted that as Sharif was the head of an opposition party, an ordinary person would naturally believe that the government was involved in the filing of the FIR.

However, Shibli also made it clear that being a three-time former prime minister did not mean that Sharif was above the law or exempted from accountability.

“A person who has been convicted in criminal cases should not be treated differently even if he has served as the prime minister thrice,” he added.

“I believe that whether if it’s a journalist or a political leader, if they are involved in criminal activities, they should be dealt with accordingly. This has been the stance of the PTI and our Prime Minister Imran Khan. We have been elected into power because of our stance on accountability. The accountability process will begin from the top, and those who have established their empires will be held accountable.”

To a question about the PTI government being unable to make the change it had promised, the minister said that bringing a turnaround, despite the challenges the current regime had inherited, was a process.

“It is not an event that will occur on specific days. This process of governance, reforms, making decisions on public issues and implementing them and stopping corruption, it’s happening for the first time,” he noted.

“Earlier, we had a system where two specific parties used to govern, but we dissolved that partnership and offered an alternative. The poor were used for political slogans. The PPP said "Roti, Kapra, Makan" but this slogan was raised around 50 years ago by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. So what purpose did the slogan fulfill? The problems are still prevalent. The PPP could not even succeed in its precise, introduced programme because instead of achieving the objectives, the party is involved in corruption.”

Shibli said PM Imran was an unconventional leader. “He resides in his own house, his protocol arrangements are limited. It is symbolic. Our governors cannot live like kings as seen in the past.”

The minister said the PTII had offered opportunities to the middle-class. “They have given ministries to people like me. This is a symbol of change because I have no affiliation with any political party nor am I an industrialist. Taking people from the middle-class on board is also a change.”

The minister noted that the Ehsaas programme aimed at improving the lives of the poor was also the first of its kind. “Our Sehat card in K-P is a revolutionary programme. Similarly, we are introducing a uniform educational system. We launched the Billion Tree Tsunami project. All these measures are time-consuming and the process is under way.”

Shibli pointed out that Pakistan's issues at the federal level were complex due to debts and the weakness of institutions as they were not given attention in the past and were exploited. “They were neither maintained nor were any efforts made to revamp them. In fact, they were used for corruption.”

Responding to a question about why the PTI opted for taking loans from international financial institutions despite categorically saying in the past that it would not do so, the minister explained that the debt we inherited from the past had to be paid.

“We had committed that we would not take loans. However, that did not imply that we would also not repay the loans taken by the former regimes. Repayment of debt forces you to take loans. The real aim is to make the country so economically sound that it will no longer need to take loans,” he added.

That process is under way and we are moving in the direction of economic stability. Currently, our past debt has increased to a level wherein only interest payment amounts to Rs290 billion a year, the installments being separate. We have a country devoid of tax culture. It is for the first time we have achieved a balance in our revenue and expenditure. We have cut down on our expenditure and increased our income. However, we still have a budget deficit due to the loans we have obtained. We are now moving in the right direction as we have reduced the current account and trade deficits.

The current account deficit which was $20 billion turned positive in August last year. We have not achieved this by chance. Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced a program named Economic Outreach Initiative which our ministry will inaugurate. Through the programme, every ministry will head with the motive of earning and saving foreign exchange. We will also streamline the MoUs we have signed with various countries. Initiatives like these are steps towards our mission of a debt-free country.”

Speaking about the Karachi package, Shibli said all institutions in the city were governed by the PPP’s provincial government and any bottlenecks created by these institutions are its responsibility. “The projects [in Karachi] could not be implemented because of the PPP. The Centre can only provide funds but provision of a congenial working environment for projects like the K-IV and KCR must be ensured by the provincial government.”

The minister the PTI will handle this issue politically as it was a political party. “We will reach out to people and explain to them about who is responsible for the delay [in the projects]. We will make it clear to them that they [PPP] are not cooperating since they fear compromising their political standing.

On the PTI's manifesto promising 10 million jobs and 5 million homes, Shibli said the prime minister's housing scheme had been launched and work on the preliminary design including approval of maps was in full swing.” Projects have started in certain cities while the scheme will spread to all of Pakistan soon. Our plan for jobs was also in operation but the coronavirus pandemic caused a setback like in the rest of the world. Even strong economies like Saudi Arabia registered a loss of 17% in their economy.

The circumstances are extremely complicated due to this pandemic. Our present priority is therefore to ensure relief from inflation, so that we can stand on our feet when this pandemic is over. The housing scheme will provide enormous number of jobs. However, it is not the government's job to directly give jobs but rather create an enabling environment whereby people get job opportunities or can engage themselves easily in self-employment. In the past, we witnessed that governments hired a thousand people where only a hundred would do.

Consequently, institutions like PIA, Steel Mills, Pakistan Television, Radio Pakistan and State Life were devastated due to hiring on political basis. The mistakes of the past like these cannot be rectified overnight but we have started that journey in the right direction and expect to soon reach the destination envisioned by the prime minister.