Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wants action against the NAB chairman – as per the law and constitution – for “levelling money laundering allegations” against former premier Nawaz Sharif on the basis of “fake news”.
She was talking to the media after the inauguration of a new website of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the federal capital on Saturday.
Marriyum said that the former prime minister, PML-N and only one province were being subjected to politically motivated revenge whereas on the other hand the “darlings” had been acquitted of terrorism charges.
The minister demanded an end to what she described as “discriminatory and revengeful actions”. She said that the dictators should also be made accountable. Marriyum said that all the state institutions would have to work within the confines of law and constitution to take the country forward.
The minister reiterated the need for the announcement of the caretaker set up through consensus at the earliest and demanded that all the laws that bore the stamp of the dictators should be scraped by parliament.
She said that all the provinces fought the war against terrorism in line with the vision of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, adding it was an irrefutable fact that no government and military regime had waged such a decisive war against that scourge.
Commenting on the ECP’s ban on recruitments, she said that PML-N was the mandate to rule until May 31 and slapping a ban on the development projects and recruitments was tantamount to pre-poll rigging. She said that tenders for a number of development projects had already been floated.
She said that the former premier, unlike other accused, had been appearing in the courts of law on a daily basis. The minister said that the Ehtsab commission in KPK was locked. She said that Khyber Bank Corruption scandal, tsunami tree corruption and resignation of the CEO of transport Department due to rampant corruption were before everybody.
Marriyum said that Imran Khan had wasted last four and half years in sit-ins, practicing politics of abuses and allegations.
She said that she was deeply hurt over her exclusion from the committee formed by the prime minister for selection of PEMRA chairman. She said that the committee was constituted by the prime minister and if the SC wanted any changes it should have written to the prime minister as it was his prerogative to make changes.
She said that issuing statements as spokesman of the government was his duty and right. She said that she was asked to resign, but the minster posed a question as to how long the prime minister and minister would continue resigning out of fear and frustration? She said that the country had to be taken forward in conformity with law and constitution.
The minister said that during the last four and half years the PML-N government had announced development projects worth billions of rupees and even completed them but NAB never made any appearance and now that only a few months were left the institutions had started defaming the government.
Marriyum recounting the achievements of the PML-N government emphatically declared Pakistan became a nuclear power during its rule, motorways were constructed , terrorism was surmounted, project for ‘ saaf pani’ was initiated and 11,000MW electricity was produced which not generated even in the last 66 years.
She lamented the fact that PTI had re-introduced the politics of 90s whereas the country needed to move forward.
Speaking about the new website ‘Gateway to way to Pakistan’ the minister revealed that it would contain information about all the departments of the ministry and links to world renowned libraries. She said that the foreign tourists and students could benefit from the website. She said that the website would also have exhaustive information about national and provincial assemblies and the constitution of Pakistan. She said that the website had been choreographed keeping in view the difficulties of the foreign visitors. The website would also have details of the access to information bill. She said that the rules about that bill would be notified by the next week. The minister said that the summary for the constitution of information commission would also be sent to the prime minister.
Published in Daily Times, May 13th 2018.
