Govt Is Stable And Confident, Says PM
| Imran Khan visits Lahore amid political upheaval
caused by no-trust motion
LAHORE – Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday claimed that his government is ‘stable and confident’ on the political front.
The premier stated this while talking with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar who called on him in Lahore. Imran Khan said that the first and important phase is Islamabad on political ground.
He further stated that decisions about the political situation of Punjab will be decided after consultations with all concerned stakeholders. On the occasion, matters pertaining to the political situation of the country, ongoing developmental projects and administrative matters of the province were also discussed.
Amid the political upheaval caused by the no-trust motion and the ensuing cracks appearing in the PTI’s Punjab parliamentary party with different groups vying for power, Prime Minister Imran Thursday dashed to Lahore to placate the party legislators in anticipation of a brewing political storm in the country’s largest province.
During his day-long visit to the provincial metropolis, the prime minister held a series of separate meetings with Punjab Governor Ch Mohammad Sarwar, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, cabinet ministers and assembly members from different districts including women legislators.
The prime minister also met with two estranged provincial ministers Samsam Bokhari and Asif Nakai to know about their reservations. Before this meeting, the two ministers had plans to join the Tareen group comprising alienated assembly members and ministers. Both Samsam and Mr Nakai reportedly reposed their full confidence in the leadership of the prime minister.
Besides the political situation in Punjab, the matters relating to ongoing development projects in the ministries concerned were discussed also in the meeting.
In his meeting with Punjab governor and the chief minister, Imran Khan said that Islamabad was the most important political front in the current situation and the government should lay more focus on the developments taking place in the center.
Talking to the Provincial Ministers Sardar Asif Nakai and Syed Samsam Ali Bokhari, the prime minister said that the development of backward areas and cities neglected in the past was among the government’s foremost priorities.
“Unlike past when the whole budget of Punjab was limited to certain cities alone, it is for the first time in country’s history that development projects have been started across the province”, he added.
The prime minister in a meeting with Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht and head of Special Monitoring Unit Punjab Fazeel Asif, said the government had announced a reduction in oil and power prices despite the commodity supercycle.
He also said that the government had introduced a modern monitoring system to ensure good governance in the country. The prime minister said that the government had launched development and social security schemes for the welfare of the common man. The meeting also focused on the ongoing development projects in the province.
Separately, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that women parliamentarians in the National and Provincial Assemblies were playing an important role in legislation. He said that contrary to the past practice of nepotism by the political parties, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) ensured meritocracy on reserved seats.
The prime minister expressed these views during his meetings here with the Members of Provincial Assembly.
Besides the women and minorities’ MPAs elected on reserved seats, the meeting was also attended by Federal Ministers Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Shafqat Mehmood, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Hammad Azhar, Minister of State Farrukh Habib, Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and Spokesman for CM Hassan Khawar.
The prime minister said that the government, which inherited a bankrupt economy, owing to its successful policies gave economic stabilization to the country, and the economy was now moving towards sustainable growth.
He further said that the government’s policies during the COVID-19 pandemic were also recognized by the whole world.
Participants of the meeting apprised the Prime Minister of people’s appreciation of the government’s measures in Punjab and progress of ongoing development projects in the province.
MPAs belonging to minorities appreciated the Prime Minister and Chief Minister for taking measures to protect the rights of minorities in Punjab.
Women MPAs, who met the Prime Minister included Yasmeen Rashid, Sadiqa Sahibdad Khan, Shamsa Ali, Nasreen Tariq, Shawana Bashir, Shamim Aftab, Firdous Rana, Shahida Ahmad, Sumaira Ahmad, Aysha Iqbal, Neelum Hayat Malik, Umul Banin Ali, Musarrat Jamshed, Saadia Suhail Rana, Rasheeda Khanam, Farhat Farooq, Sania Kamran, Talat Fatima Naqvi, Shaheena Karim, Aasia Amjad, Seemabia Tahir, Momina Waheed, Aysha Nawaz, Zainab Umair, Farah Agha, Saeeda Farah Uzma, Sajida Begum, Sajida Naveed, Sabeen Gul Khan, Sabrina Javed and Abida Bibi.
MPAs belonging to minorities included Haroon Imran Gul, Ejaz Alam Augustine, Mahinder Pall Singh and Youdester Chohan.
The prime minister also had meetings with party lawmakers belonging to Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Sahiwal Divisions. The MPAs who called on the PM included Malik Mohammad Anwar, Syed Yawar Abbas Bukhari
Malik Jamshed Altaf, Major (retd) Muhammad Latasib Satti, Raja Saghir Ahmed, Javed Kausar, Chaudhry Muhammad Adnan, Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi, Muhammad Basharat Raja, Umar Tanveer, Raja Rashid Hafeez, Ammar Siddique Khan, Raja Yasir Humayun, Raja Yawar Kamal Khan Zafar Iqbal, Mohammad Muneeb Sultan Cheema, Ansar Majeed Khan Niazi, Ghulam Ali Asghar Khan Lahri, Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain, Fateh Khaliq Bandial, Mohammad Sabteen Khan, Abdul Rahman Khan, Aminullah Khan, Ahmad Khan, Ghazanfar Abbas, Mohammad Amir Inayat, Syed Samsam Ali Shah Bukhari, Malik Noman Ahmad Leghari, Malik Noman Ahmad Leghari, Mian Muhammad Farrukh Mumtaz Manika, Ahmad Shah Khaga, Muhammad Naeem Ibrahim.
The MPAs from Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur and Multan included Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Dareshk, Khawaja Mohammad Daud Suleiman, Javed Akhtar, Mohsin Ata Khan, Mohammad Hanif Khan, Sardar Ahmad Ali Khan Dareshk, Sardar Mohi-ud-Din Khan Khosa, Malik Ahmad Ali, Shahab-ud-Din Khan, Syed Rafaqat Ali Gilani, Sardar Farooq Aman Allah Dareshk, Sardar Mohammad Owais Ahmed Dareshk, Sardar Dost Mohammad Mazari, Nawabzada Mansoor Ahmed Khan, Zahra Batool, Mohammad Sabteen Raza, Mohammad Reza Hussain Bukhari, Khurram Sohail Khan Leghari, Mohammad Aun Hameed, Niaz Hussain Khan, Mian Alamdar Abbas Qureshi, Mohammad Ashraf Khan, Makhdoom Hashim Javan Bakht, Mian Shaukat Ali Lalika, Mian Fida Hussain Wattoo, Samiullah Chaudhry, Sahibzada Muhammad Gazin Abbasi, Syed Iftikhar Hassan, Muhammad Amir Nawaz Khan, Chaudhry Masood Ahmed, Mian Shafi Muhammad, Fawaz Ahmed, Asif Majeed, Mohammad Shafiq, Syed Hussain Jahanian Gardezi, Mohammad Akhtar Mohammad Jahanzeb Khan Kachchi, Zawar Hussain Waraich Javed Akhtar, Syed Khawar Ali Shah, Hamid Yar Haraj, Faisal Khan Niazi, Mohammad Saleem Akhtar, Nawabzada Wasim Khan Badozai, Mohammad Zaheeruddin Khan, Mohammad Nadeem Qureshi, Salman Naeem, Malik Wasif Mazhar, Qasim Abbas Khan, Nazir Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Ijaz Hussain, Rai Zahoor Ahmed.
The Ministers and MPAs Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala who called on the PM included Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal, Mian Mahmood Rashid, Muhammad Hashim Dogar, Malik Asad Ali, Sardar Muhammad Asif Nakai, Nadeem Abbas, Nazir Ahmad Chauhan, Sarfraz Hussain, Malik Mukhtar Ahmed, Omar Aftab, Khurram Ejaz, Khan Sher Akbar, Sahibzada Jalil Ahmad Sharqpuri, Mohammad Atif, Saleem Sarwar Jora, Mian Mohammad Akhtar Hayat, Chaudhry Liaqat Ali, Mohammad Akhlaq, Chaudhry Ahsan Saleem Baryar, Syed Saeed Al Hassan, Mohammad Tariq Tarar, Gulraiz Afzal Gondal, Memon Tarar, Ahsan Jahangir, Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmed, Khayal Ahmed, Mohammad Teymour Khan, Ashfa Riaz and Special Assistant Teymour Ali Lali, Omar Farooq, Saleem BB Bharwana, Ali Akhtar, Shakeel Shahid, Mohammad Latif Nazar, Saeed Ahmed Saeedi, Sonia Ali Raza, Col. Ghazanfar Abbas Shah, Rana Shahbaz Ahmed Khan.