PML-N has history of pressuring courts: PM

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday maintained that the PML-N had a history of influencing the courts.

“The ‘Sicilian mafia’ is once again trying to pressure the judiciary,” the premier claimed after his adviser on interior and accountability Shahzad Akbar briefed him and the party’s spokespersons about the ongoing case of former Gilgit-Baltistan chief judge Rana Shamim in the Islamabad High Court.

Akbar told the participants of the meeting that even the Supreme Court had used the words “Sicilian mafia” for the Sharif family.

Informing the media about the meeting, PTI Senator Faisal Javed shared that PM Imran had said that the Sharif family had again been exposed for trying to pressure the judiciary.

“The PML-N has pressured courts in the past as well for making decisions in its favour. Everyone knows that the PML-N has a history of pressuring the judiciary” the senator quoted the prime minister as saying.

“The Sharif family is fighting for its survival while we [PTI] are fighting the nation’s war,” Javed maintained.

Read: IHC indicts ex-GB CJ Rana Shamim in affidavit case

While referring to media reports, Javed said PM Imran had recalled that former judge Shamim had signed his affidavit while sitting in the office of the son of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif.

The affidavit was published just a couple of days before the hearing of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s cases in IHC.

Moving on to other subjects, Javed said that the premier told the party members that Pakistan has achieved phenomenal growth of 5.37% despite the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

PM Imran listed down bumper crops and surge in large-scale manufacturing and services industry as major contributors to the economic growth.

The premier further highlighted that Pakistan’s exports were at a peak with record tax collection and remittances.

The participants of meeting also discussed the latest reports published in The Economist and Bloomberg, as the former had ranked Pakistan at second position on the normalcy index.

Javed informed the media that PM Imran had said that even the financially stable countries including the US, the UK, and Germany were facing high inflation whereas situation in Pakistan was still better when compared with other countries.

“The government is aware of the difficulties being faced by the salaried class,” he quoted the PM as saying. “Inflation is expected to go down in 2 to 3 months.”

Read More: Rebasing of economy pays dividend to govt

On foreign policy, the premier lauded Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and holding of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in the country to extend a helping hand to war-torn neighbouring country and its people.

PM Imran lauded Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stance on Islamophobia while referring to a phone call between them.

He briefed the participants of the meeting about growing ties between Pakistan and Russia on different fronts.

Javed also said PM Imran had lauded Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s performance.

“Buzdar is proving himself with his work instead of focusing on optics,” he quoted the premier as saying.

“In Sindh,” the premier added while comparing the two provinces, “the law of the jungle prevails”.

The party members were also informed that health cards providing medical treatment of Rs1 million per family have already been distributed in Chakwal, Attock, Jhelum and Rawalpindi.

The premier told the participants that no government in the past had faced such challenges that the PTI was facing.

Javed, while responding to a question, conceded that the PTI government was receiving “unprecedented support” from the security establishment but the reason for that was the leadership of the party was not corrupt.

Separately, the prime minister chaired a meeting to review an integrated strategy for improving the irrigation system in the country.

The participants of the meeting were briefed on a sustainable system for equitable distribution of water in the provinces, strategies for non-wastage of canal water to agricultural lands, effective system for prevention of water theft and a plan to make lands cultivable by expanding the irrigation system.

They were informed that for the first time in the history of the country, the present government was ensuring serious implementation of river water storage projects.

These 10 years have been named as the “Decade of Dams”.

In addition, measures are being taken to prevent water theft in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

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The participants of the meeting were further informed that under the prime minister's vision of giving priority to food security, the government was also ensuring implementation of the Agricultural Transformation Plan.

The premier, while issuing directions to complete all the ongoing projects within the stipulated time, noted that the timely construction of water reservoir projects and making agricultural land cultivable by irrigation was crucial for the food security of the country.

The meeting was attended by National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and other relevant senior officers.

K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and senior provincial officials participated in the meeting through video link.

Last month, the prime minister had said the government had for the very first time chalked out a comprehensive Agricultural Transformation Plan and was implementing it on priority basis.

He had added that mechanisation of the agricultural sector, provision of quality seeds, efficient water management system and assistance in livestock farming were transforming it into a high-yielding economic entity.

The prime minister had further said with the introduction of the Kissan Card and subsidies on fertiliser and genetic improvement of livestock, the government was aiming to achieve even higher production against the record yield in the previous year.