ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that today marks the completion of one year since he took oath as prime minister of a coalition government, adding that this was time of massive challenges and difficulties.
In a series of tweets, the prime minister said that his perspective on this year is that Pakistan faced unprecedented floods last year and the decisiveness with which the government undertook rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts, provided social protection to millions of people and mobilised international community has been acknowledged by the world as outstanding.
He added that the coalition government has been at pains to repair, rebuild and deepen Pakistan’s diplomatic relations that were dealt a severe blow by previous regime. “I can inform people that over the last one year, we have largely succeeded in establishing Pakistan’s credibility as a partner and friend,” added the prime minister.
Govt has taken ‘tough’ decisions ‘to save state’: PM
Despite the economic landmines laid by the previous government led by Imran Khan and disruptions in global fuel and food supply lines, Pakistan’s economy has continued to stay afloat. All predictions of default have turned out to be false alarms.
Sincere efforts are under way to revive the economy, he said. He added that the coming together of political parties with different manifestos for a common national cause represents a major step forward in the country’s political evolution.
The prime minister further stated that reconciliation and cooperation, not confrontation and vendetta mark the new politics post-April ‘22
The passage of no-confidence vote against the former prime minister’s government was unprecedented not because PDM came into power but because almost all of Pakistan’s political forces came together to use the forum of Parliament to vote out an unpopular government through constitutional means.
He said that building on the public transport infrastructure, the government since its inception in April last year, focused on early completion of the development and transport infrastructure projects in Islamabad and idea was to provide ease, comfort and affordable mobility to the people.
Under the watch of the PDM government, Pakistan managed to exit the FATF grey list, thanks to the excellent inter-ministerial coordination as well as support extended by the military leadership. It was a long journey but sustained efforts made it possible
Inflation has hit people hard globally and geo-strategic rivalries, an increase in prices of the fuel and food commodities and historic floods are some of the key factors responsible for inflation. Mindful of its impact, the government has expanded the social safety net and provided targeted subsidies
The prime minister said that in the last one year, the government has made efforts to diversify the energy mix with an aim to provide relief to the citizens. The renewed focus on solar, hydel, and coal power projects is aimed at replacing the costlier sources of power generation with cheaper ones.
He added that the government employed climate diplomacy to present Pakistan’s case on the international stage. As Chair of G77 plus China, we were instrumental in the establishment of loss and damage fund. Pledges of US$ 9 billion at the Geneva moot are evidence of our successful diplomacy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023