ISLAMABAD: Outgoing Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that he is proud to be the apple of the eye of the establishment for the past 30 years, adding that a hybrid system working for the development of the country is better.
The comment came during the farewell ceremony at the Prime Minister’s House before the announcement of the country’s caretaker prime minister. Senior journalists and anchor persons participated in the event.
Prime Minister Shehbaz answered questions from the media and spoke about media freedom and other sensitive issues during his 16-month tenure, including the growing military influence in the economy, legislation and civilian affairs.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister was asked why he is giving credit to the Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, for the success of the Bihara Kahu Bypass project, apart from promoting investment in the country.
In response, he said that the work on the Bihara Kahu project, which is a joint venture with the National Logistics Cell (NLC), was slow, so he asked the Army Chief to speed up the work.
He said that the Army Chief ensured timely completion of the project for which he gave credit.
The Prime Minister also remarked that his relations with the establishment have been cordial not only with the current establishment but with every establishment and he is proud of it.
During his talk, the Prime Minister said that while in office, he made a concerted effort not to react to both criticism and praise for his performance in the media.
He spoke in detail about the economic performance of his government. He said that the 16-month tenure of his coalition government was full of challenges, difficulties arose on every front and the most difficult challenge was in the economic field.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that after the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), there was some stability in the economy, the risks of default have been removed, but the problem of inflation remains.
He admitted that his coalition government had failed to provide relief to the common man for 16 months. He, however, claimed that inflation had come down slightly in the last four months of his government but more work needed to be done to bring it down further and provide relief to the common man.
Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz also answered questions about the possibility of delay in the upcoming elections, legislation against fundamental human rights and the nature of civil-military relations during his rule, among other sensitive issues.
The prime minister was asked why the amendments to the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act were tabled in Parliament without being referred to the relevant parliamentary committees for debate, which faced opposition from within the coalition parties.
In response, the Prime Minister said that amendments in these laws are necessary. He gave the example of a recent incident where an intelligence officer was martyred on duty and all the information was shared in the media and social media, causing hardship to the family of the martyr.
Therefore, amendments to the Official Secrets Act are necessary to prevent such incidents.
During the talks, questions were also raised on the military’s actions and interference in civilian and economic affairs, to which the prime minister admitted that his working relationship with the military leadership had improved during his 16-month tenure.
He said that if the hybrid model is better for the development of the country, then there is no problem in it.
The Prime Minister said that the army is thinking about the development of the country and the setting up of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is an example of this in which the military and civil leadership come together to invest in sectors like agriculture, IT. It is working. , and minerals.
