Shehbaz Sharif strikes back at Imran Khan’s allegations,
Islamabad (Islamabad)
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday while rubbishing the PTI chief Imran Khan’s allegations of media blackout of his party and flood relief telethon, asked him to instead account for the donations he had received following the 2010 floods.
The prime minister, responding to a tweet by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman, hoped that Imran Khan would also present an account for the illegal foreign funding, just like the way he (Shehbaz Sharif) and his colleagues had been doing.
Shehbaz Sharif said he as well as his colleagues were still subservient to the law.
The prime minister said he had no time to respond to Imran Khan’s allegations and misunderstandings as the incumbent government was heavily engaged in the rehabilitation of flood victims.
“All of these gags and tactics are your characteristics, not ours. We are just treading the path of law,” the prime minister remarked.
In his tweet on Monday, the PTI chief had alleged the government of making attempts for his party’s media blackout besides torture and fake cases against journalists.
He had questioned the government as who, if not the government, was behind all such attempts to undermine the PTI’s “popularity”, calling it the violation of the international commitment on freedom of speech.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said since the government has been busy with flood relief and rehab operations, it has no time for Imran Khan’s accusations and misunderstandings.
“We have no time to respond to your accusations,” Shehbaz said in reply to Imran Khan’s question about who is responsible for blocking his telethon he held for flood relief the government. He said he asks Shehbaz Sharif to tell the people who were responsible for blocking his flood relief telethon.
Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister replied: “Our government is currently busy with the rehabilitation of the flood victims, so there is no time for your accusations and misunderstandings.”
He added he and his team have always abided by the law and they have never gone for political persecution. “Such tactics are your characteristics.” he
About flood rehab fundraising, the prime minister said he hoped Imran Khan will share the details of donations he collected now and in 2010 and foreign funding.
In a series of tweets and a meeting yesterday, Imran Khan alleged that the coalition government ‘stooped down to new levels of low by mounting pressure on the media houses to ‘black out’ the PTI fundraising campaign for flood-hit people.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the members of cabinet to come forward to help address the miseries of flood-hit people and enhance the relief and rehabilitation efforts.
The Prime Minister urged the ministers to put more focus on helping the poor flood-stricken at this critical time besides fulfilling their official duties.
The PM while acknowledging the efforts of those cabinet members, who are active in flood relief activities, said those not active in such efforts should also come forward and help the affected people.
Furthermore he hoped that water in the flood-affected areas would recede in two to three months and people would be rehabilitated. Be it the philanthropists, doctors, police officers, bureaucrats, or army, all know what the situation is. Your efforts will be remembered by the flood affected people.
The Prime Minister lamented that the flood affected masses, who also knew the people doing politics at this critical time and were quiet, would respond when the time came.
He said that Pakistan, despite its meager contribution to global emissions, was facing the huge effects of climate change.
According to the source, The Prime Minister appreciated UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for visiting Pakistan at this critical time as well as the UN flash appeal of US $ 160 million to help the flood-affected people.
He said that the UN Secretary General, who also visited the flood affected areas during his visit, urged the international community to take practical steps to help Pakistan mitigate the sufferings of the flood hit people as well as the negative effects of climate change.
The Prime Minister also praised UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his empathetic attitude towards the flood-affected people and his views on climate change injustice in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the federal cabinet has rejected a summary seeking government’s approval for raising the retail prices of medicines.
The federal cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was held in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The health ministry has sent a summary to the federal cabinet suggesting an increase in the retail prices of 10 medicines but the cabinet rejected the proposal.
The cabinet members were of the view that medicine prices could not be increased.
It has been learnt that Prime Minister Shehbaz categorically stated that he did not support the price hike with regard to medicines.
The prime minister tasked Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Minister for Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema, Maritimes Affairs Minister Faisal Sabzwari, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, and Advisor on Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira to work towards improving coordination among provinces regarding the price of wheat and distribution of urea.
With multiple agenda items on the table, the cabinet discussed the matters including Hajj overbooking inquiry, mutual legal assistance with other countries, energy performance standards, legislative cases, and approval of the decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).
On the inquiry report regarding the overbooking of Hajj pilgrims, the cabinet, however, ruled out any charges of malicious intention.
The inquiry committee that comprised representatives of finance and religious affairs ministries, and the State Bank of Pakistan, reported that the banks after the overbooking had compensated the pilgrims.
The prime minister directed the finance ministry and SBP to question the banks over such negligence.
He also issued a directive to SBP to keep their branches situation in the flood-affected areas open during holidays and weekly offs.
The cabinet approved the summary of the Interior Ministry to accept applications for Mutual Legal Assistance from the countries which have no written agreement of legal cooperation with Pakistan.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the cabinet approved the extension of the minimum energy performance standards of electric fans up till June 30, 2023. The prime minister emphasized improving the quality of the products before the deadline.
The federal cabinet approved September 2 decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Cases including amendments to Rule-13 of Bio-Study Rules 2017, amendments to Section-15 of Emigration Ordinance 1979, and amendment to Gas (Theft Control and Recovery) Act-2016.
It also approved the amendment to the service rules of the post of Secretary, Evacuee Trust Property Board.
Also, the inclusion of solar equipment, electric motors, and power transformers has been made mandatory in the list of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority.
The cabinet also approved a summary regarding reaching an agreement with the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for collaboration in the agricultural field.
The agreement will be signed during Prime Minister Shehbaz’s visit to Uzbekistan.
It is pertinent to mention here that the meeting of the SCO member countries will be held in Uzbekistan from Sept 15-16 with the help of Shanghai.
Besides this, an inquiry report regarding Hajis’ booking in the government quota was also presented before the cabinet.
The federal cabinet gave approval to the decisions of ECC including funds amounting to Rs540 million in favour of Utility Stores Corporation for the provision of essential commodities in flood-hit areas.
The other ECC decisions include allocation of PASCO’s local and imported wheat stock among recipient agencies; transfer of amount to Afghanistan government on functioning, maintenance, and salaries of three Pakistani hospitals, and allocation of Rs3 billion funds to National Disaster Management Authority for providing relief to flood-hit people.
