–PM Imran directs task force to track down people named in Panama Papers
–Rules out NRO for opposition
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was committed to undertaking structural reforms in bureaucracy in order to make it more efficient and responsive.
Chairing a meeting of Task Force on Civil Service Reforms on Friday, the PM said the bureaucracy was heavily politicised in the past, which resulted in inefficiency and created a fear among the bureaucrats.
The government would depoliticise the civil services and insulate them from all kinds of political pressures, he added.
The premier elaborated that the existing government system, given interference from political quarters, cannot compete with the private sector where merit determines the positions and seniority.
He said no system could sustain or deliver if accountability and merit were missing, emphasising the need to restructure and reform bureaucracy in a bid to make it pro-progress and innovative. He further stressed that there is a dire need to promote professionalism in every sphere.
During the meeting, the prime minister said that the PTI was committed to protecting integrity and security of tenure of bureaucrats so that they could devote their energies towards translating the “political vision into a reality”.
The existing system, he said, does not allow the large pool of talent in the country to emerge.
The premier said that the incumbent government was introducing a new local government system wherein local representatives would be fully empowered to carry out public welfare work, adding that it was important to check the wastage of resources as well.
PM RULES OUT NRO WITH OPP:
The prime minister also rejected all reports about striking a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) style deal with the opposition and said that the government is not part of any such underhand dealing.
“All these news are baseless; there is not going to be any deal [with the beleaguered opposition],” the prime minister was quoted as saying while chairing a meeting of the allied parties.
The meeting discussed the political situation in the wake of the arrest of the ruling party member and Punjab former senior minister Aleem Khan by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). It also took stock of the opposition’s criticism and the prime minister called for presenting the government’s standpoint to the people in a positive manner.
The prime minister also mentioned that those named in the Panama Papers must be tracked down and brought to the docks. Over 444 Pakistani citizens, including former PM Nawaz Sharif and PTI [former] minister Abdul Aleem Khan, were named in Panama Papers for allegedly owning offshore assets and the audit proceedings had been finalised in 15 cases and the remaining 36 cases were being heard, State Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar told the National Assembly in November.
The names found in the secret files range from those of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family to Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s relatives; from Benazir Bhutto to Javed Pasha; from Senator Rehman Malik to Senator Osman Saifullah’s family; and from Waseem Gulzar (a relative of the Chaudhrys of Gujrat) to Zain Sukhera, who was co-accused with former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s son in the Hajj scandal.
Businessmen featured in the record range from hotel tycoon Sadruddin Hashwani to real estate czar Malik Riaz Hussain’s son; from the Hussain Dawood family to the Abdullah family of Sapphire Textiles, Gul Muhammad Tabba of Lucky Textiles as well as Shahid Nazir of Masood Textiles and from Zulfiqar Ali Lakhani to Zulfiqar Paracha.
Members of the bar and the bench were also spotted in the documents include one serving judge of the Lahore High Court, Justice Farrukh Irfan; and one retired judge, Malik Qayyum.
The owner of Hilton Pharma Shehbaz Yasin Malik opened the company for a Swiss bank account. ABM Group of Companies Chairman Azam Sultan, Pizza Hut owner Aqeel Hussain and Chairman Soorty Enterprise Abdul Rashid Soorty were also identified along with the family members.
Though the report reveals the names owning such offshore companies, it admits that it does not mean that all those having offshore companies have ill-gotten money or are involved in tax evasion or money-laundering.
