ISLAMABAD:
Outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he is happy to have been the centre of attention for the past 30 years. He also said that a hybrid system that helps the country move forward is better.
The comment made at the Prime Minister’s House during a farewell event before the new caretaker PM named. The event attended by senior writers and news anchors.
PM Shehbaz talked about the economy, laws, and the impression of growing military influence in civilian matters. He also talked about media freedom and other sensitive topics that came up during his 16-month term.
On this occasion, the prime minister asked why, besides encouraging investment in the country, he was giving credit for the success of the Bhara Kahu Bypass project to Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.
PM said Bhara Kahu project, which a joint effort with the NLC, had slow down. So he asked the army chief to speed up the work.
He said that the army chief made sure the job was done on time. Which is why he gave him credit.
The PM also said that he was proud that his relationships with the establishment had stayed friendly. Not just with the current establishment but with all of them.
During their talk, the prime minister said that during his time in office, he worked hard not to respond to either criticism or praise about his job performance in the media.
He talked in length about how the economy was doing under his government. He said that the 16-month term of his coalition government was full of challenges, and that the most difficult task was in the economic field.
Deal with IMF
PM Shehbaz said that after the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the economy got a little bit more stable and the fear of going bankrupt went away, but inflation was still a problem.
During the 16 months, he admitted that his alliance government could not help the average person. But he said that inflation had gone down a little bit in the last four months of his government. More needed to done to bring it down even more and help the average person.
Later, PM Shehbaz answered questions about the possible delay of upcoming elections, hastily passed laws that go against basic human rights, and the nature of civil-military ties during his government, among other sensitive topics.
Laws’ amendments
The prime minister asked why changes to the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act were rushed through parliament without being sent to the right committees for discussion. These changes also ran into resistance from within coalition parties.
As a response, the prime minister said that these rules needed to changed. He gave the example of a recent case in which an intelligence officer died while on duty. All of the details shared in the news and on social media, which made things hard for the officer’s family.
So, he said, the Official Secrets Act needed to changed to stop things like this from happening.
During the conversation, questions also asked about the military’s presence and involvement in civilian and economic issues. PM said that during 16-month term, relationship with the military leadership gotten better.
He said that the hybrid plan is fine if it is better for the country’s progress.
The prime minister said that the military is thinking about the country’s progress. The creation of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), in which the military and civilian leaders work together to encourage investment in areas like agriculture, information technology (IT), and minerals, is an example of this.
