No corruption charges against PML-N’s five-year tenure: PM

• Says people had given mandate to his govt to stay in office till July 1

• Expresses confidence that govt would complete its term, says elections would be held on time

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Tuesday said the government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was the only government that did not face any charge of corruption in its five-year tenure.

“The government is functioning with full transparency and there is no stain on its credibility,” the prime minister said in his interaction with reporters here at the PM Office.

He said the people had given a mandate to the PML-N to stay in office until July 1 and expressed firm confidence that the government would complete its term, and the election would be held on time.

“The government faces no threat and will continue till July 1, and not a single second earlier,” PM Abbasi categorically said. “If anyone had courage, they had the option to bring a no-confidence motion against the prime minister or he himself had the powers to dissolve the National Assembly.”

In the past, he said, former dictator Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari during their tenures neglected the key development sectors of the country.

He said the provinces at the moment were enjoying their authority with little focus on their responsibilities and called for realising and implementing the real spirit of 18th Amendment.

To a question about Memogate whether in his opinion the appearance of Nawaz Sharif before the commission or the sacking of the-then PM Yousaf Raza Gilani was justified, Abbasi said approaching a court was the right of every person and it was up to the court to decide the case in whatever way it deemed correct.

The prime minister said it was a worldwide and open debate to discuss the perks and privileges of judges, and stressed the need for a similar debate in Pakistan as well.

When asked to comment on him giving more time and attention to the PM Office as compared to his predecessor, Abbasi said it was not the duration of time that mattered but the quality of work that Nawaz Sharif did. “Nawaz Sharif as prime minister has really delivered, and I am no comparison to his commitment, dedication and service to the nation,” he said.

When asked about the ties with the US, he said Pakistan was clear in its policies with Washington. He said the Pak-US ties spanned decades and covered all aspects of their relationships, adding the two countries were engaged at different levels and were regularly interacting.

‘I LIVE IN THE STONE AGE’:

When questioned whether he too planned to have a Twitter account to respond to President Trump, Abbasi said, “I am neither on Twitter nor Facebook and WhatsApp.”

“I live in the Stone Age,” the prime minister quipped.

He said Pakistan was conducting operations against the terrorists within its territory purely for its own objectives and to bring peace. He said Pakistan had already paid a heavy price against terrorism and would continue it till the clearing of the last remnants of terrorists.

About the drone attacks, he said Pakistan had the right to take any action it deemed right to protect its ground and air frontiers.

About news reports of Taliban’s desire to interact with the US government, he said, “If they (Taliban) wish to talk to the United States, they can. We have nothing to do with it.”

“We believe war is no option in Afghanistan. Pakistan is host to three million Afghan refugees and if the international community, instead of spending billions on war, spends a few billion on their repatriation, the situation could improve significantly,” he added.

PM Abbasi, when asked about the proposed privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), said the airline was incurring losses of around Rs120 million a day, adding, “I firmly believe that the government sector cannot do business, and the only solution was to privatise it.” He said the airline had liabilities of US 450 million dollars and was making losses and argued that the same amount of money could be used elsewhere.

Defending his government’s economic performance, the PM said inflation had dropped from 13pc to 5pc; growth had risen from 3pc to 6pc; and fiscal deficit had dropped from 8.5pc to 5pc. He attributed declining exports to some ambiguity in the export policy, saying Pakistan had the potential to raise it to 40 to 50 billion US dollars and assured that the government was working on it.

He said transparency was the hallmark of the PML-N government, as all agreements were available on the websites.

To a question about progress on Gwadar port, the prime minister said despite claims, the previous governments did not do “a penny’s worth of work” at the deep sea port.

“The PML-N had the credit of making it operational by installing new cranes, setting up industrial zones—where work on five units was in progress—construction of infrastructure, besides three regular PIA flights. He said, earlier, not even a single ship had berthed at Gwadar in the past, but now ships were docking at the port thanks to his government.