Daily Times

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said the Federal Cabinet had approved the first-ever cyber security policy for better national security, and response to the looming threat of cyber warfare gaining roots across the globe.

Addressing a news conference after the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said the world was moving towards the cyber warfare at a rapid pace, and the government formulated the comprehensive policy in that regard, which was crucial to protect the cyber security regime, and electronic data of citizens.

Rubbishing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) allegation of ‘rigging in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections, he said there was no possibility of fraud in the electoral process as the PML-N itself was in government there and had appointed the chief election commissioner.The PML-N leaders should rather concede their defeat instead of crying foul by holding a press conference at the AJK prime minister’s office, he added.

The minister said the cabinet was given a detailed briefing by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan on the electoral reforms process. He stressed that both the government and the opposition needed to build consensus on important national issues such as holding free, fair and transparent elections, which were vital for national development. Otherwise, the allegations of rigging would continue to be levelled by the losing parties after every election, he added. He said it was astonishing that when the current opposition leaders got drubbing in the bye-polls, they created a hype of ‘rigging’ and if, otherwise, they claimed that the PTI government had lost the support of masses.

The minister said the government’s consultations with the opposition parties on electoral reforms were moving forward. There was no stalemate and the process would resume soon after the return of National Assembly Speaker AsadQaiser from Azerbaijan where he along with a parliamentary delegation was attending a trilateral meeting of the speakers of the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey.

He said a detailed report was also presented before the cabinet on the expenses being spent on the protocol of VIPs, including the president, prime minister, cabinet members, governors and chief ministers, and judiciary.

He said some Rs 700 million was being spent annually on the security of federal government dignitaries, Rs 2,529 million in Punjab and Rs 998 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Apart from Balochistan, he said Rs 1,400 million were being spent on the security of judiciary in other three provinces. The security of judiciary was of paramount importance, and the law minister and attorney general would discuss the issue with them.

The prime minister, he said, had directed to formulate a new security mechanism in view of such an increase in the security expenditure of VIPs. A “Threat Assessment Committee” was being formed to formulate new security system, he added.

The minister quoted the prime minister as saying that the “protection of taxpayers’ money is the foremost responsibility of the government and the people should have confidence that their tax money is being used in a judicious manner”.

He said the cabinet issued directives to the Board of Investment to take necessary steps for repealing obsolete laws causing hurdles in investment process.

The minister said the cabinet also gave approval to the Advertisement Policy 2021, which envisaged issuance of ads to digital media as well.To another question, he said a professional committee comprising bureaucrats would decide about distributing advertisements to the digital media in a transparent manner.

Regarding the appointment of two new members of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he categorically denied any deadlock between the government and the opposition on the matter.