Daily Times

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday said the Federal Cabinet had accorded approval for formation of a new committee which was mandated to furnish a report on overhauling the Exit Control List’s (ECL) rules, allegedly misused by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government. The committee, headed by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, also included Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar, Minister for Communications Asad Mahmood and Ayaz Sadiq, she said while talking to the media persons here at the National Press Club after the Federal Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Flanked by Minister of Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail, she said the committee’s Terms of Reference had been finalized and it asked to submit the report to the Federal Cabinet within three days.

It would also brief the Cabinet as to how the ECL law was misused during the tenure of PTI government, she added. Marriyum said the last committee of previous Federal Cabinet on ECL was formed on in December 2020 and headed by the then Accountability Advisor Shehzad Akbar who got dictations from Imran Khan. She said the PTI government used the ECL or watch list to politically victimize its opponents under the garb of accountability during the last four years of Imran Khan rule who, himself, was accused of all those allegations he had put on their opponents. There was a complete process for placing name of a person on such list but in the previous government, it was Imran Khan who ultimately decided who to stay on it, she alleged.

The minister added that efforts were being made to review the ECL related law so that it could not be used against anyone in the future. She recalled that a full-fledged and so-called accountability campaign was launched against the government officers, parliamentarians, and journalists who ultimately fell prey to the NAB-Niazi nexus.

The PTI government even failed to prove accusations against a single politician in the court, she added. She said a senior officer had told PM Shehbaz Sharif during the power sector briefing that he did not do any work during the last four years owing to the fear of National Accountability Beuearu (NAB). Marriyum lashed out at the PTI government for influencing state institutions including FIA to carry out witch hunt against their opponents.

“Imran Khan used FIA against Shehbaz Sharif out of his personal grudge,” she added. She said the Federal Cabinet today had approved the appointment of Tahir Rai as Director General of FIA. At the outset of briefing, she said PM Shehbaz Sharif, since assuming his office, was meticulously focusing to provide instant relief to the masses particularly in the holy month of Ramzan.

She lamented that poor economic policies of the previous regime not only had a devastating impact the national economy, but also affected the common man in terms of household expenditures and medicines. Solution of the economic challenges faced by the country was among the priority agenda of the Federal Cabinet which included almost all the coalition partners of the PML-N government, she noted.

She said the Federal Cabinet had given approval for reducing price of 10 kilogram of wheat sack to Rs 400 from Rs 550 in the holy month of Ramzan, while approval had also been accorded to bring down the rate of sugar to Rs 70 from Rs 80 in Ramzan Bazar and Utility Stores. In Punjab, the sack of 10 kg wheat would be available across the province at Rs 400. The Chief Secretary of Punjab had been directed to ensure uninterrupted wheat and sugar supply to Gilgit Baltistan. Likewise, it has been decided that the Federal Government would ensure smooth supply of wheat and sugar in Balochistan. She said at provincial level, Chief Secretaries would monitor the supply of essential items while overall monitoring would be done by PM Shehbaz Sharif.