The Cabinet in its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday approved the establishment of ‘Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for Palestine and Lebanon’ to help the victims of Israeli brutalities, reproted 24NewsHD TV channel.
It also issued necessary instructions to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to open an account in this regard. Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal will oversee the relief operations for Palestine and Lebanon, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
The cabinet was briefed by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom regarding the implementation of e-office in the federal ministries and institutions.
The meeting was informed that Pakistan’s position in the United Nations E-Governance Development Index had improved by 14 places due to the government’s measures to implement e-governance. The meeting was further informed that the implementation of e-office was underway in all 40 divisions of the federal government while 100 percent e-office had been implemented in some ministries.
The prime minister directed to further improve the implementation of e-office and asked for reviewing of the progress in this regard after two weeks.
The cabinet also accorded approval to the agreement for subsidies in the fisheries sector in the light of the decisions of the World Trade Organization.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, the cabinet approved the signing of an agreement to grant sister-ports status to the Gwadar Port, Pakistan and Shanghai Port, China. It also approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the federal cabinet further approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ghana on bilateral political consultations.
On the orders of the Chief Justice Balochistan High Court and on the recommendation of the Ministry of Law and Justice, the cabinet approved grant of jurisdiction to judicial magistrate- Gwadar and judicial magistrate Hub to hear anti-narcotics cases.
The meeting endorsed the decisions taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Matters held on September 25, 2024 and the decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Chinese Investment projects in its meeting held on September 16, 2024.
The federal cabinet ratified the decisions of the Cabinet Committee on the Government Owned Enterprises held on October 1.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made a firm declaration that the federal government will not allow a repetition of the protest sit-in that previously led to chaos in Islamabad and accused PTI founder Imran Khan of trying to derail the economy.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the PM presided over the federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday and emphasised that threats against the federal government are being made day and night, with attempts to march on Islamabad.
PM Shehbaz referenced the violent nature of recent protests, stating that a police officer was martyred and significant damage was caused during the demonstrations. The prime minister accused certain elements of bringing in Afghan nationals and other miscreants to incite unrest in the capital when the SCO summit is going to be held on October 15-16. "There are forces that do not want Pakistan to progress," he said, adding that if Islamabad remains in chaos, it will deter foreign investment. He also urged the agitators to exercise caution, questioning their intentions as Pakistan continues to work towards economic recovery.
Shehbaz Sharif calling the recent PTI protest a replica of the 2014 sit-in by the party, vowed that the repeat of that “gory tale” would not be allowed at any cost. “Such incidents are a replica of 2014-15 incidents when a sit-in was staged for months and was not called off despite the announcement of the Chinese president’s visit to Pakistan without bothering about its impact on the country’s image and national economy… We will not allow it to be repeated. We will not tolerate it at any rate, at any cost. This is my promise. I will not let it happen,” the prime minister said.
Shehbaz Sharif drew cabinet members’ attention to an attack that took place near Karachi Airport killing two Chinese engineers and injuring another, despite the government’s all-out efforts to ensure their security.
The PM apprised the meeting of his telephonic conversation with the Chinese ambassador in Islamabad and also a condolatory visit to the Chinese embassy where he reiterated his government’s assurance to leave no stone unturned to make the security of Chinese national “unreachable”.
Referring to the PTI protest, Shehbaz Sharif said the allegations were hurled against the government and attempts were made to create chaos at a time when the Chinese Premier was about to pay a bilateral visit and a Saudi delegation was also scheduled to visit Pakistan and MoUs and agreements worth $2 billion are expected to be signed.
Shehbaz Sharif thanked China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE for their support in obtaining the IMF loan facility and also mentioned last week’s “successful” visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim when two sides agreed that Pakistan would export Halal meat and rice to Malaysia. He said consequent to the “finest level” of teamwork, the IMF loan programme had been approved, inflation was reduced from 32% to 6.9%, exports, remittances and IT exports were on surge and the stock exchange was skyrocketing. He said sabotaging all these efforts for the sake of their politics would be the biggest conspiracy to the country, he remarked.
Highlighting his government’s reform agenda, he mentioned the doubled number of tax return filers, broadening tax base and the digitisation of FBR. He said oil prices had been reduced for the fifth time, and a Rs50 billion relief package was announced for the power consumers of the protected category, apart from the Punjab government’s Rs55 billion package on top of that.
The prime minster said on one side, the government was making efforts to stabilize the economy and kickstart its home-grown economic programme, while on the other, KP chief minister was leading the saboteurs gathering consisting of Afghan nationals and also using government officials. The protesters also carried out aerial firing and an official of Islamabad Police was martyred during the protest, he added.
Shehbaz said that the peaceful and secure atmosphere was inevitable to attract investment.
Thanking the IMF chief for her support in approving the IMF facility for Pakistan, the prime minister said that she was also appreciative of the reforms introduced by the incumbent and the caretaker governments.
He mentioned the martyrdom of a lieutenant-colonel and other security personnel, and said the government knew where the terrorists were being funded from.
The cabinet meeting offered Fateha for the security personnel martyred in different terrorist incidents.
Reporter Awais Kiyani
