The PPP government is chalking out a dynamic agriculture policy to attract foreign investment, short and long term energy programmes to meet the shortfall on sustainable basis whereas announcement of 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award with consensus was its major success during one-and-half-year tenure.
Pakistan Peoples Party leader Muhammad Naveed Chaudhry in an exclusive interview with Business Recorder on Tuesday said the federal government, especially the Finance Ministry has played a pivotal role in breaking the deadlock among the provinces pertaining to contentious issues of the NFC Award. He said the federal government would increase provincial share of the divisible pool from present 47.5 percent to 56 percent in the first year of the Award and 57.5 percent in the remaining years.
Naveed Chaudhry said the government is facing a plethora of economic challenges and working on all fronts to steer the country out of crises. For this purpose, the government has tightened its belt and focusing attention on attracting more foreign investment to increase production and reduce dependence on foreign loans.
"The government has to chalk out a strategy to reduce the ministries and some of which will be merged to reduce the size of the Cabinet. All this is being done to reduce non-development expenditures to a large extent," PPP leader said. Naveed said the PPP government wants to increase foreign trade and approached the US and the European Union countries to put the economy back on track.
About Kerry-Lugar Act, the PPP leader made it clear that it was absolutely wrong allegation that the KLA was against the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan. It is the right of the US government to give financial support to Pakistan to fight terrorism. He said that Pakistan is a frontline state in war on terror. "Our armed forces are sacrificing their lives in the war against terror. They made tremendous inroads on Swat and Waziristan fronts. Up till now Pakistan has spent Rs 32 to 40 billion in war on terror, he added.
About Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan package, the PPP leader said for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the government placed the issue of Balochistan before the joint sitting of the parliament for discussion. "The PPP government is committed to giving the rights to the people of Balochistan and to hold talks with disgruntled Baloch leaders to bring them in mainstream politics," he said.
About provincial autonomy, he said a Special Committee of the Parliament on Constitutional Reforms would soon present its recommendations to repeal 17th Amendment and give provinces the needed autonomy, he said. "We will take Baloch Sardars onboard in the dialogue process and will bridge the gap between the common people of Balochistan and tribal chieftains. In the NFC Award, the control on mineral resources has been handed over to the provinces," he said.
Naveed Chaudhry said the government was paying attention to foreign investment in agriculture sector. He said the government will reform agriculture using barren land to increase per acre yield along with judicious distribution of water among the federating units.
Answering another question about poor governance in the country, he said this perception is wrong. The people want immediate results but the government is not holding a magic wand to resolve the issues on spot. He claimed that the previous government had followed the policy of ad-hocism but the PPP government is chalking out well thought-out long and short-term policies to overcome the shortage of energy in the country.
Answering a question about President Asif Ali Zardari, he said that a campaign has been launched for the character assassination of the President and for this purpose a specific segment of the society is taking advantage of the independent media. He said that for the first time, the PPP-government has gone on back foot for the sake of reconciliation and for saving the democratic system.
"The PPP has adopted the policy of reconciliation instead of confrontation. We should respect the mandate of each other and strive to strengthen the democratic institutions for the progress of democracy in the country," he said. About terrorism, the PPP leader said Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan will give one percent of the divisible pool to the NWFP to fight war on terror. Apart from this, the government has allocated a huge amount for fighting terrorism.
Naveed Chaudhry said the killing of innocent people is no service to the religion and Ulema must play their role in spreading the true message of Islam. They should come forward to condemn the suicide attacks and project the true ideology of Islam. "All the political and religious forces, civil society and people from other walks of life must unite in the larger national interest," he added.