Govt won’t backtrack on accountability of corrupt

Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday resolved that the government will make no compromise on the accountability process as it were the people who bore the brunt of corruption. Addressing the event ‘Delivering Prime Minister’s 100 Days Agenda’ to highlight the performance of the Punjab government during first 100 days, the prime minister said the opposition in the National Assembly was ‘doing the drama’ of political victimization contrary to the fact that not even a single case had been registered by the incumbent government. The prime minister recalled that the fake bank accounts had first surfaced in 2015 but the then government put the matter under the carpet in name of ‘Charter of Democracy’. “We have done nothing. But we have not impeded the action (against corruption),” he added. He said it was strange that the opposition wanted to make Shehbaz Sharif, who is in jail over corruption references against him, head of the Public Accounts Committee. The previous government passed a law allowing a corrupt man to head a political party, which is nothing but the mockery of the parliament, he added. The prime minister told the gathering that he has asked his party to accept opposition’s every demand like issuance of the production order of Khawaja Saad Rafiq and making Shehbaz Sharif PAC chairman. “However, we cannot agree to backtrack on the accountability as it is inevitable for the secure future of the country and next generations,” he said. “The country’s future will remain imperilled until we arrest the corrupt,” he said, adding that he launched his political career with the slogan against corruption and that he will never make any compromise in the name of protecting democracy. Imran Khan also doubled down on the need to dispense equal rights to religious minorities in Pakistan, by saying that Islamabad would show Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi how to treat these groups. He said giving religious minorities their due rights was the cornerstone of the vision of the country’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said if justice is not given to the weak, this will only lead to uprising. He said a nation is torn apart only if they are not given their due rights and this is a cause for uprising. “The people of East Pakistan were not given their rights, which was the main reason behind the creation of Bangladesh,” he added. Imran Khan said if citizens are not given rights in a province then they feel ostracised. He said that the previous government would use half of the province’s budget on Lahore alone. He censured the previous government for spending Rs 250 billion budget of southern Punjab in other cities, which, he said, increased the sense of deprivation among the people of area. The disintegration of Pakistan was the consequence of such injustices with the people, he said, and called for learning from the mistakes done in the past and also mentioned the injustices meted out to the people of Balochistan. The prime minister appreciated the Punjab government for allocating exclusive budget for the southern Punjab. He said the non-development of remote areas put burden on major cities and cited the problems faced by the Lahore like pollution and congestion. “The leaders of previous governments had all their interests overseas and would claim to be sincere to the public,” he lamented, adding that there was no way the country could have prospered with its leaders not having a stake in Pakistan. “Look at Malaysia and Singapore, they used to be behind us, but now are miles ahead of us solely because of the policies of their governments,” he said. Speaking of the anti-encroachment drive, he said that billions of rupees of land had been recovered in the initiative which belongs to the people of Pakistan. “The drive is purely for the betterment of the people of Pakistan,” he said. He said that corruption has a ruinous effect not only on the economy but the society as a whole. Giving an example of the anti-corruption drive in China, he said that 400 ministers were put behind bars for corruption there. Speaking of judicial reforms, he said that to ensure expedite the justice being served to the public, the government would soon table legislation in the parliament for each civil case to be concluded within one-year period. The prime minister said there is also a dire need to end the politicisation of the police in Punjab. He added that agricultural reforms must look to improve the productivity of farmers to compete in the international market by using modern methods to improve crop yield. Imran Khan said the onus is on all the ministers to prove their worth by performing in the respective ministries handed to them. He said ministers must lead by example with their hard work and slashing their personal spending. “No minister will be allowed to lead a lavish lifestyle,” he said. Published in Daily Times, December 23rd 2018.