Foreign visits of Nawaz, Zardari cost billions to treasury
Nawaz Sharif during his tenure remained out of country for 262 days and spent Rs1.84 billion
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood on Tuesday said that former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif during his tenure remained out of country for 262 days and spent Rs1.84 billion on his foreign visits.
Addressing a press conference on decisions taken in cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday, he said that Nawaz Sharif visited London 24 times and spent Rs223.9 million on these trips, adding that the former PM visited Saudi Arabia 17 times costing Rs120 million to the treasury.
Shafqat Mehmood while giving details of the visits said former president and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari during his presidency made 134 foreign visits and spent 257 days abroad and took 3,500 people along with him on these trips.
“The visits cost Rs1.42 billion to the national exchequer at a time when the country was under heavy burden of debts,” he said.
The minister went on to say that Zardari visited Dubai 51 times and spent Rs100 million on these visits. Of these, 48 visits were private. He spent Rs320 million on 17 visits to the UK.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan is visiting the USA this month on invitation of President Donald Trump, adding that it has been decided that the prime minister will stay at the residence of Pakistani ambassador to the US to save costs. “Every effort will be made to minimize expenditures during this visit,” he added.
Mahmood said federal cabinet has expressed concern on the use of national electronic and print media to promote the narrative of convicted persons, adding that the cabinet took notice that in any democracy the use of media for promotion of personal interests or to put national institutions under pressure by convicted criminals or under trial persons is never allowed.
The cabinet emphasized that the PEMRA should fulfill its responsibilities to discourage such trend.
Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the Advisor on Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Chairman FBR to ensure that prices of essential commodities including flour, ghee and pulses are kept to a reasonable level so that there is no additional burden on people of lower income backgrounds.
He expressed deep concern on the trend of granting extensions in employment to some persons of certain organizations and criteria published in the media to select them.
The prime minister said strict action will be taken against the responsible persons of government organizations who show bias or favour while recruiting candidates for public sector jobs.
The cabinet also expressed concern over the fact that former Federal Minister Khawaja Asif was a salaried employee of a foreign organization during the time of his minister-ship which is not only against his position but also contravened his oath.
The cabinet directed the Interior Ministry to furnish a report after completing investigations of this violation.
