Not sharing the limelight: No information at right to information workshop
Kaptaan takes over stage at ceremony marking launch of new RTI Ordinance in K-P.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan speaks during the workshop on Right to Information at a local hotel in Islamabad. PHOTO INP
ISLAMABAD:
Participants at a workshop on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) new right to information law were left in a lurch as the only information they received was a rhetoric-laden speech by Imran Khan.
Speaking at an awareness workshop on the Right to Information (RTI) Ordinance at a local hotel, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief — whose party is in power in K-P — took the conference topic on a tangent by offering one defence after the other over allegations of him and other senior leaders managing the affairs of K-P from Lahore.
Khan said that he is only “keeping an eye on the situation” and has yet to intervene in the province’s affairs.
Khan said he would interfere in the K-P government affairs if he came to know that the party policy is not being implemented.
“Corruption is the mother of all ills in the country and truth is the base of democracy. Sadly all dictators muzzled the media and information, but RTI is in line with democratic norms,” he added. He congratulated K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and other cabinet members on the promulgation of the ordinance.
While explaining the need to get the word out, Khan remarked that “As the public is not familiar with democratic traditions, we will start an awareness campaign to inform people of their rights”.
The PTI chief claimed that they are going to transform lavish government guest houses into educational institutions or use them for commercial purposes. “Due to security concerns, the chief minister’s house cannot be converted for these purposes but we are looking towards the Governor House for this.”
Khan said Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in Peshawar will be completed in two years.
PILDAT Executive Director Ahmed Bilal Mehboob asked the PTI government to launch an awareness campaign regarding this law through mobile phones and prepare a periodic report regarding its progress.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2013.
Participants at a workshop on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) new right to information law were left in a lurch as the only information they received was a rhetoric-laden speech by Imran Khan.
Speaking at an awareness workshop on the Right to Information (RTI) Ordinance at a local hotel, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief — whose party is in power in K-P — took the conference topic on a tangent by offering one defence after the other over allegations of him and other senior leaders managing the affairs of K-P from Lahore.
Khan said that he is only “keeping an eye on the situation” and has yet to intervene in the province’s affairs.
Khan said he would interfere in the K-P government affairs if he came to know that the party policy is not being implemented.
“Corruption is the mother of all ills in the country and truth is the base of democracy. Sadly all dictators muzzled the media and information, but RTI is in line with democratic norms,” he added. He congratulated K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and other cabinet members on the promulgation of the ordinance.
While explaining the need to get the word out, Khan remarked that “As the public is not familiar with democratic traditions, we will start an awareness campaign to inform people of their rights”.
The PTI chief claimed that they are going to transform lavish government guest houses into educational institutions or use them for commercial purposes. “Due to security concerns, the chief minister’s house cannot be converted for these purposes but we are looking towards the Governor House for this.”
Khan said Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in Peshawar will be completed in two years.
PILDAT Executive Director Ahmed Bilal Mehboob asked the PTI government to launch an awareness campaign regarding this law through mobile phones and prepare a periodic report regarding its progress.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2013.