The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government marked its 100 days in power on Thursday in a ceremony, held at the Jinnah Convention Centre in the federal capital.
The ceremony was attended by PTI leaders, Members of National Assembly, Members of Provincial Assembly, workers and supporters of the party. Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was the chief guest on the occasion.
Special aide to the PM Shehzad Arbab addressed the ceremony and informed the attendees regarding the ideas and steps that the government intends to take in order to improve the situation of economy, infrastructure, education and other areas of the country that were in a dire condition due to the previous government’s wrong policies. Arbab shed light upon the prevailing water crisis that Pakistan is going through and said that, in order to battle the crisis, Diamer-Bhasha dams would be built upon emergency basis.
He further informed that the government would make sure that water and food resources were safeguarded and were not used inappropriately, adding that the ‘Tree Tsunami’ was the government’s innovation, which worked wonders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the government would make sure that this plan is implemented throughout the country. He further claimed that the government would put forth its performance review twice a year.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also addressed the occasion and shed light upon the foreign office’s activities during the PTI government’s first 100 days in power. The minister said that the ministry was more active than it has ever been, adding that there was no one who could present Pakistan’s stance in front of the world during the previous government’s time in power.
The minister said that the priorities of the Foreign Ministry, specifically in the foreign policies of the country were carved out from scratch as before this, the ministry did not even have a clear stance, let alone present it in front of the world. “Within the government’s first 100 days, there have been 73 engagements with other countries where Pakistan has not just listened to their queries and their opinions, but Pakistan’s stance was put forward, the grievances of the country were also put forward,” he said.
Shah Mehmood said that it was decided that the country’s first focus would be Afghanistan and that is the reason as to why the first visit to Afghanistan happened, where Pakistan put forth the country’s stance and held a discussion towards achieving peace in the region. “There would be more engagements in the future, and for that purpose, former envoys would be consulted,” he added. Speaking about India, the foreign minister said that the uncertain relations that Pakistan and India has was not hidden from anyone. He reiterated his previous statements and said, “There was supposed to be a meeting between Pakistan and India at the UNGA, but, it seems as if Indian politics came in the way of peace once again.”
Finance Minister Asad Umar also addressed the ceremony, and explained the economic situation of the country along with the policies that were created. The minister said that for the betterment of the nation, the PM has to take a u-turn. “The PM had earlier said that he would not go on an official international trip, but I forced him to take a U-Turn on that front,” Asad Umar said, adding that if a politician in the past said that he would cut the stomach of another corrupt politician, and now he claims that they are brothers; in this situation the politician is not taking a u-turn, he is trying to save himself from getting caught up with the corruption that he had done.
The finance minister explained that the external deficit of Rupees two billion was reduced to half, “but we want to take it even lower, we want to end this burden that has been hurting the nation since a long time,” he added. “The average deficit was of two billion dollars per month in the three months prior to the PTI’s coming to power and dedicated efforts were made to reduce it to a slightly over one billion dollar per month. He said that different steps helped improve the situation of balance of payments.
The minister said that any agreement with IMF would be made keeping in view the interest of the people of Pakistan. “Unlike the previous governments, we would not hide behind IMF,” he said. Asad Umar used cricketing analogy to describe his job and said that he was sent in to bat when the ball was swinging and seaming from both ends. He explained the government’s decision to also seek alternate channels instead of solely relying on the International Monetary Fund to plug the financing gap.
“Economists are asking me why I did not just close my eyes and sign an IMF contract. If we sign a deal, we will do so on our terms, and we will not lie to the people even if the truth is bitter. I take credit for telling the PM that ‘you would have take a u-turn on your promise to not travel for 100 days because this was in favour of the country. So he agreed and toured different countries,” the minister added.