Coalition Partners Supporting Govt’s Electoral Reforms: Info Minister

ISLAMABAD, (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Tuesday said, the government’s coalition partners graciously supporting the electoral reforms of Prime Minister Imran Khan, assured him of taking forward the agenda in future. “We have put forth our idea of electoral reforms which is comprised of 49-points before our coalition partners including PML-Q and MQM who will be further briefed on this in near future,” he said while addressing the media in a post-cabinet briefing. He said PM Imran Khan met the coalition partners after chairing the Federal Cabinet meeting and took them into confidence on the government’s stance on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the backdrop of electoral reforms. The minister said there was a consistent position of the government on the electoral system which is needed to be reformed for ensuring free and fair elections and strengthening democracy in the country. Briefing the media about the decisions of the federal cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, a detailed briefing on comparison of the commodities’ prices with other regional countries was given to the forum and assured that the prices in Pakistan were lowest in the region. He said the fuel prices in Pakistan are still the lowest as compared to the nonoil-producing countries. The minister said wheat flour price in Pakistan was Rs 60.9 per kilogram, while in India and Bangladesh, it stood at Rs 83, and in Afghanistan that was around Rs 73. Likewise, the price of gram pulse per kg in Pakistan was Rs 146.77, while in India, it was being sold at Rs 166, and in Bangladesh at Rs 224, he said, adding the price of Mash in Pakistan was Rs 245.84, while, in India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, it stood at Rs 244, Rs 334 and Rs 214, respectively. He said the price of onion in Pakistan was Rs 47.14 per kg, while in India and Bangladesh, it was Rs 95 and Rs 121, respectively. The price of chicken in Pakistan was 254.92, and in India and Bangladesh, it was being sold at Rs 438 and Rs 324, respectively. He said in Pakistan, the petrol price was Rs 138.73 per litter, while in India, it was Rs 258 and Rs 180 per litter rate was in Bangladesh. Fawad said the poverty level in those countries with whom the comparison was drawn was higher than Pakistan as per the latest World Bank report. Drawing inter-provincial comparison of edibles, he said in Rawalpindi, a 20 kg wheat flour bag was available at Rs 1,100, whereas in Karachi its price was Rs 1,470. Similarly, the sugar price in Rawalpindi was Rs 90 per kg, whereas in Karachi it was being sold at Rs 120. He said that the price of Mong pulse was Rs 148 in Punjab, while in Karachi, its rate was Rs 196. Gram's price here was Rs 153 and in Karachi, it was 164. He lashed out at the Sindh government for failing to control prices of commodities and asked Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to rather hold a protest against inflation next time before the Sindh’s Chief Minister House. The minister said the Sindh government needed to improve its governance so that the people of the province could get some relief in the wake of high inflation in the province. He said the Ministries of Commerce and Information and Broadcasting gave the presentation to the Cabinet on the vacant posts available in their attached departments. Fawad said the Federal Cabinet had decided that the government would not acquire the land of the local people for the construction of housing societies which used to be the policy in the past.  He said that it had been decided that the prime minister’s discretionary powers to allot plots would be abolished. The prime minister had not used that discretionary power so far. Information Minister Fawad said the Federal Cabinet had decided that from onward, only federal government employees would be eligible for all the housing schemes to be launched by the Federal Government Housing Foundation.   He said the forum had also expressed concerns over irregular allotments of plots to various institutions’ employees. A committee has been constituted, comprising members from the Establishment, Finance, and Housing Ministries for devising a framework in that regard after incorporating the policy being implemented in defense institutions, for allotment of plots to government officials. The body also rejected the proposal to suspend the duty on vintage cars import for one year, he added.   The Federal Cabinet, the minister said on request of the Housing Ministry, okayed amendments in Rules of Business 1973 to enable the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense to solely look after their buildings.   If both the ministries wanted to start any new project, they would have to take a no-objection certificate from the housing ministry, he said, adding the ministry was also allowed to outsource their buildings to private companies for maintenance purposes.   The minister said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pakistan Steel Mills Brigadier (retd) Shuja Hassan had been given an extension for one year.   A new board has been formed in Sheikh Zaid Medical Institute Lahore. The board members included Professor Sajid Maqbool, Dr. Rashid Nadeem, Naeem Siddiqui, Syed Naveed, Amjad Andrabi, Sharmeen Ahmer Khan, Umair Umer Virk, and Niaz A Malik.   Similarly, Amina Irfan and Farhana Azeem would-be members of the new board set up for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.   He said the Cabinet also accorded approval for laying down 41 recommendations, formulated by International Labor Conference, for laborers in the Parliament.   Fawad said the ex-officio directors have been nominated for 13 companies under the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division), while the additional charge for CEO Central Power generation company and Lakhra Power generation company has been given to Muhammad Salman Malik and Tanvir Ahmed Jafri, respectively. He said an advertisement was being floated for the appointment of CEO Faisalabad Electric Supply Company. Lieutenant General Javed Mahmood Bukhari (Retired) Rector NUST and Engineer Rehan Abdul Baqi the Vice-Chancellor of Institute of Space Technology have been appointed as members Pakistan Engineering Council for a time period of 2021- 24. He said the decision taken by Economic Coordination Committee in its meeting, held on October 28, 2021, has been ratified by the forum.   The minister said the support price of wheat has been discussed in detail at the meeting. Senior Cabinet members including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Hammad Azhar, and Khusro Bakhtiar have been made members of the committee that has been constituted to review support prices on wheat. “Our issue is that if we increase support price of wheat, the rate of wheat flour also goes up, so we have to achieve a balance in this regard,” he added.   The Federal Cabinet also approved the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Law on October 28,  2021. He said a new Federal Government Properties Management Authority was being formed to manage the federal government immovable assets through a public-private partnership. The minister said the forum had accorded the approval of the Ehsaas Ordinance 2021 that would provide legal cover to all the programs, operating under the Ehsaas Programme umbrella. Fawad said the Prime Minister would address the nation on Wednesday to take them into confidence on important decisions for further improving the economy. He would also announce a mega relief package which would eventually facilitate around 53 percent of the population. Doctor Inayat Husain has been appointed as Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, he said. The Federal Cabinet, he said also okayed amendments in Pakistan Nursing Council Act to bring reforms in its administrative affairs. To a query, he said the government had fixed minimum wages for the laborers, but it did not want to intervene in the private sector beyond a certain limit. However, steps were being taken to create a business-friendly environment. He said the government had already raised the salaries of its employees, so now it was the responsibility of those industries of the private sector who had earned record profits during the coronavirus pandemic to pass on relief to their employees by increasing salaries. “There is no discussion in PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf),” he said while rubbishing rumors in media regarding the party’s seat adjustment with a religious party. About coverage of amendment in the NAB ordinance, he urged the media to consult their legal advisors when they were reporting on a legal matter. He said the power given to the President of Pakistan for the removal of the National Accountability Chairman was not subservient to the Prime Minister’s advice. The minister said when the government filed a case to Supreme Judicial Council against the former NAB chairman in the past, the Supreme Court had declared that since it was not a constitutional nomination so the SJC could not take notice. Therefore, in the wake of those remarks, the government had to give the power for removal of the chairman to someone, so it was delegated to the President of Pakistan. He said this was a ‘judicial authority of the president, so he could exercise it on his own discretion. Fawad said it was the demand of media as well as the entire Parliament to bring powers of the NAB under a specific framework. He urged the opposition to put forward their amendments regarding NAB and electoral reforms and collaborate with the government to ameliorate and streamline the system. 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