Says govt would accept Supreme Court’s verdict in Panama case

Expresses deep sense of grief over Mardan University incident, saying PM, apex court had taken serious notice of Mashal’s murder

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb in her interaction with the media at the Faisalabad Press club on Sunday said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s government was trying to fulfil all the pledges it had made during the last elections and the country was now moving forward on the path of progress and prosperity.

She reiterated that in the coming elections people would vote for the parties on the basis of their performance.

She informed the journalists that on the directive of the prime minister, an important legislation was being made for the safety, security and welfare of working journalists, including reporters, cameramen, DSNG operators and technical staff.

She said it was for the first time that measures were being taken to provide legal cover for the rights of working journalists in consultation with all the stakeholders.

The government was starting training programmes for the working journalists across the country to enhance their professional skills and foreign training for them was also being contemplated, she added.

The minister said the government was working to finalise Right to Information Bill to facilitate the journalists in order to perform their duties in a proper way, as it would help bridge information gaps.

A positive image of the country, she said, was projected internationally as terrorist incidents had been considerably reduced after the launch of operation Zarb-e-Azb. The provinces also deserved credit in that regard, she added.

She said the country was facing 16-18 hour power load-shedding during the previous government tenure, due to which industries were being shifted abroad, adding the incumbent government launched power generation projects, which were near completion; as per the PML-N promise, there would be no load-shedding by 2018.

The minister said the decision of lifting gas moratorium had been taken due to the availability of more gas in the system. She said the prime minister had launched a healthcare programme in all the provinces, the largest one in Asia, for which registration had already started.

To another question, the minister said the people had used the Panama Papers issue for their politics, while the prime minister had given answers to questions relating to three generations. The Panama issue was sub-judice and the court would decide the matter according to the law, she added. She said the prime minister’s position was clear on the issue. Marriyum said the government would accept the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama case.

She expressed a deep sense of grief over the Mardan University incident, saying that the prime minister and the apex court had taken serious notice of the student’s murder by mob.

She said the number of terror incidents in 2013 was 2,500; eventually, reduced to just 180.

She said the federal government had given Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway, clean drinking water in Sindh, a modern transport system in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, besides women colleges and universities across the country.

Member National Assembly (MNA) Khalid Javed Warraich, Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Abdul Qayyum and notables of the area were also present on the occasion.