- Premier says NSC meeting was necessary to put an end to controversy stirred by Nawaz
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Sunday said that he is hopeful that a consensus on the name for caretaker prime minister would be reached with Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah by Monday.
In an interview with a private media outlet, PM Abbasi said that unfortunately, a consensus could not be reached so far, adding, “Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stresses that a name it proposed should be agreed on for the caretaker PM’s post but we stress on the name we proposed.”
He went on to say that “we should learn from the past and rest the decision with the people.”
Commenting on defections within his party, the prime minister said that the defectors stayed with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for four years and 11 months. “It is better for individuals, who cannot be trusted, to quit the party.”
He, however, maintained that the ruling party had at least three to four “strong candidates” in every constituency.
The prime minister further said that it was necessary to call a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) to put an end to the situation after the statement made by PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif.
“Give the kind of circumstances today, it has become difficult to run the country,”
he said, questioning how would a country progress in which the leadership stops making decisions.
“Under present circumstances, the bureaucracy is unwilling to present any summary. Such matters would be resolved through a national dialogue.”
PM Abbasi asserted that it would be difficult for any government to run the state affairs under current circumstances.
Speaking about the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he said that the anti-graft body was established by a dictator [Musharraf] to pressurise politicians, adding that they wished to disband the NAB through consensus.
“It should be pondered over in the national dialogue whether it is in the interest of the country whatever the NAB has been doing,” the prime minister said.
“The circumstances created by the NAB at present have been causing 90 per cent damage to the country.”
When asked about the tax amnesty scheme his government introduced, Abbasi said the scheme provided a chance to individuals to come into the tax net.
