Majority of cabinet members supported decision to remove Nawaz's name from ECL: Firdous
She said there was a consensus in the meeting that Nawaz shouldnt be given relief unconditionally.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Tuesday said that 85 to 90 percent ministers supported the decision to remove former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List and allow him to travel abroad.
Briefing the media on federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, she said that hurdles won’t be created and facilities would be provided to Sharif to travel abroad.
She said there was a consensus in the meeting that the PML-N supremo shouldn’t be given relief unconditionally. However, the meeting was of the view that the former prime minister should be bound with certain guarantees, sureties and indemnity bonds for his return after completion of the treatment.
Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem told the meeting that Mian Nawaz Shaif’ properties should be kept as a guarantee.
Dr Firdous said Advisor on Finance Dr Hafeez Shaikh apprised the cabinet of improvement in economic indicators, the government s policies leading to encouraging economic results and the problems faced by common people and strategies to resolve them.
He also informed the meeting of not only successful achieving the targets but also surpassing them in first quarter of this financial year in the areas of revenue collection, taxes, industrialization, export oriented strategy, foreign reserves, remittances, economic stability and inflation.
The Finance Advisor further informed the meeting that due to turnaround of economy, the ultimate beneficiaries will be people of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister appreciated the improvement in economic indicators and performance of the economic team and also directed to disseminate information to public regarding these positive impacts.
She said Pakistan s economic policies have restored the confidence of international financial institutions including the IMF.
The Prime Minister once again directed all provincial governments to expedite measures to control inflation and prices of essential items. The performance of the provincial governments will be measured in how much reduction in prices their actions have brought so far.
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the Prime Minister directed to ensure that essential items are available at the network of Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan, for which the six billion rupees have been already released. She said the technology will be utilized to overcome corruption and performance issues in USC.
The prime minister also gave directions to the cabinet that all cabinet members must take responsibility of the performance of their respective ministries. If there is any issue, it will be the responsibility of the respective minister. The Ministers will take their decisions on fast track basis.
She said the cabinet was apprised of key projects under CPEC including ML-1, airport, and other infrastructure that were discussed in the recent JCC meeting with Chinese counterparts.
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the cabinet was informed that 1594 Pakistani prisoners from Saudi Arabia and 345 from Malaysia have returned to the country after serving their sentences due to special efforts made by Prime Minister.
The cabinet expressed displeasure over a news reports carried by a section of media regarding inquiry commission to probe debt accumulated by previous governments. The said report was based on wrong statistics and fabricated facts.
