ISLAMABAD – Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan on Monday blamed the Supreme Court for a partisan approach, saying all decisions made by the SC had been against the government. “But the government still accepted all those verdicts,” she said during a press briefing on the decisions taken by the federal cabinet. “Despite these decisions, our leadership tried to ensure the sovereignty of the institutions as we take pride in bowing before the constitution,” she said. The minister, however, distanced the government from the PPP Sindh’s strike call against the SC’s verdict against Justice (r) Deedar Shah’s appointment as the NAB chief. “The protest against the court decision is the right of the people and part of freedom of speech and this protest was not organised by the government, rather the people did it on their own,” the minister said.
Firdous, however, agreed that such a trend could lead to shutting down all courts across the country, adding that lawlessness and chaos could prevail if protests were held against courts’ verdicts. She clarified that Sindh Interior Minister Zulfiqar Mirza had no role in targeted killings in Karachi or the strike call. Asked why the government was not implementing SC’s verdicts, Firdous said the government had no such plan. “We will not interfere in matters of other institutions, but will also not allow others to do so vis-a-vis the government’s affairs,” she added. To a query, she said the cabinet did not discuss Shahbaz’s statements. The information minister said in line with the party’s policy of reconciliation, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif was given due protocol by the Pakistani High Commission in London. Earlier in the cabinet meeting, the finance secretary gave a detailed presentation to the cabinet on commodity prices across the country.
The meeting was informed that the rate of inflation which was at 15.16 percent in December last year had fallen to 12.9 percent. The cabinet approved the initiation of technical negotiations with China for acquisition of conventional sub-marines to strengthen the capabilities of Pakistan Navy. It approved a plan to strengthen the National Electronic Complex to meet the needs of defence and social sectors. The cabinet ratified an agreement regarding aid worth $1.5 billion from the US under the Kerry Lugar legislation. The cabinet also approved recommendations of its committee and the removal of Roosevelt Hotel in New York from the list of entities to be privatised.
