Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday appreciated Defence Minister Pervez Khattak for launching several public welfare initiatives during his tenure as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief minister in 2013-18, days after the latter reportedly exchanged heated words with the premier at the ruling PTI’s parliamentary meeting.
On the other hand, the party issued a show-cause notice to its KP lawmaker Noor Alam after he latter reportedly criticised the senior leadership during the recent National Assembly session.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of establishing special technology zone in KP’s Haripur, PM Imran praised the defence minister, saying, “When Pervez Khattak was chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkwa he did a lot of good things like [launching] health card scheme.”
Despite lack of resources, PM Imran said KP under Khattak’s rule was the only province in the country that launched projects to combat climate change.
He also praised the former KP chief minister for empowering the province’s local government system and also credited him for taking measures to boost tourism.
Last week, PM Imran and Defence Minister Khattak reportedly exchanged bitter words during a parliamentary party meeting of the PTI and its allied parties.
According to reports, Khattak lashed out at the premier, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and Energy Minister Hammad Azhar. “The gas and electricity producing province [KP] has been deprived of new gas connections,” he had complained.
He told the premier that unelected people were sitting in the cabinet. He added that the people of KP had elected him the prime minister, but still they were the ones losing the most.
The minister claimed that there was a ban on new gas connections in KP. “If this goes on, we will not be able to vote for the mini-budget.”
The prime minister retorted that he would not be blackmailed. “If you don’t want to vote, then don’t. If you are not satisfied with me, I will give the government to someone else.”
On the other hand, Pervez Khattak issued a notice to Noor Alam, who had assailed the PTI government in the Lower House on Friday for “ignoring” the province and demanded that names of top cabinet members, including the PM Imran, be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The senior leadership of the party took notice of Alam criticising the PTI-led government.
Khattak said that any reservations pertaining to the organisation should be brought fourth in a party meeting. According to the politician, public forums were not appropriate for expressing any sort of reservations that fall within the party’s domain.
Last week, during a parliamentary party meeting of the PTI and its allied parties, the party’s MNA was reported to have raised tough questions with the leadership.
He asked as to whether or not the security institutions would be affected by handing over the autonomy of the State Bank of Pakistan. “Will we also provide the account details of the security agencies to the IMF?” he inquired.
Imran replied that he wanted to make it clear that there would be no compromise on national interest. “The protection of our security agencies is the first priority in all cases,” he added.
Tech zones
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran said his government was focused on promoting education and developing the health sector for the overall national development. He said that with the increase in revenue collection, these two key sectors would also be further strengthened.
The prime minister said that since Pakistan was one of the only two countries in the world with the majority of its population under the age of 25, the country’s youth was its biggest resource. “I have full faith that countries develop because of educational institutions,” he said.
“The more we invest in technology the more this will benefit Pakistan,” he said, adding that the reason Pakistan lagged behind other developing countries was that it did not focus on education.
He said qualified youth provided leadership, besides contributing to overall progress of a country. He emphasised on imparting education to the youth in accordance to the market requirement.
Imran said the three-tier education system had been creating three classes in society, which would have negative impacts. He said the single national curriculum introduced by the incumbent government would lead to national cohesion. He said the special technology zones would create employment opportunities for the youth.
He said facilities being provided to the business community were leading to increasing exports, adding that a 75 per cent increase in IT exports was expected this year.
