Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday said the forensic audit report of the inquiry into the wheat flour and sugar crisis would be made public, apprising the people of all the facts and figures.
She rejected the allegations levelled by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif about delay in the presentation of report. It was in fact a “cheap effort” by the opposition leader to keep himself in the news, she said while addressing a press conference.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, she said, believed in an across-the-board accountability and that was why he had formed a commission to unmask the real faces behind the crisis. No one from the PM’s family was a beneficiary of the subsidy given for the export of sugar, she said.
Dr Firdous said the commission comprising officials from responsible institutions had to carry out the forensic audit of the last three years, so it required more time to complete the process in the most transparent manner. Its request for three-week extension in the deadline for completing the audit would be presented before the cabinet for approval.
The SAPM said Imran Khan had a clear stance that no political statement should be issued in the time of crisis to fight the coronavirus outbreak with national unity and cohesion. But unfortunately, Shehbaz Sharif was facing political isolation due to the internal politics of his party and that was why he had targeted the prime minister over the inquiry commission, she said.
She reminded Shehbaz Sharif that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had not yet completed two years, whereas the subsidies were doled out among the Sharif family during the PML-N regime.
She questioned as to when Shehbaz would start accountability of the subsidies given to the Sharif family members by him as the Punjab chief minister and his brother Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister.
She asked Shehbaz not to take Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed’s statement about the PML-N’s internal politics to his heart.
She urged the opposition leaders that instead of political point-scoring, they should augment the government’s efforts to defeat coronavirus and save the vulnerable segments of society from the impacts of the lockdown. Philanthropists should help the government by giving heavy donations for the purpose, she said.
Firdous stressed that it was the responsibility of different segments of society, particularly the religious scholars, to play their role in containing and defeating the contagion.
She expressed the confidence that the ulema would fulfil their responsibility regarding the implementation of 20-point Ramazan guidelines in order to avoid the spread of the virus.
She said now technology was being utilised to target and trace the infected people and put them in quarantine.
The federal and provincial governments were already fulfilling their responsibilities, but it was up to the people to follow guidelines regarding isolation and social distancing, she added.
Firdous said a relief package for industrial workers had been prepared, which would be approved by the Economic Coordination Committee today (Monday). The objective of the package was to protect the rights and livelihoods of the industrial workers, which was only possible when the burden of industries was also shared during the testing times, she said. “Therefore, the package envisages relief measures for the owners of the industries and factories.”
The SAPM said the capacity of coronavirus testing had been multiplied during the last few weeks, so increase in the number of cases was natural. On the first day, only 472 tests were done, whereas now over 8,000 tests per day were being conducted, she added.
Earlier, PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif blasted Prime Minister Imran Khan for the delay in the report to be submitted by the sugar inquiry commission and termed it “proof of the premier’s guilt”.
The remarks came a day after the sugar forensic commission asked for an extension of three weeks’ time to submit the report. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar in a Twitter post on Saturday said that the commission had asked for an extension and the federal cabinet would consider their request on Tuesday.
“The delay in the report is validation of the government’s theft of Rs 100 billion. It is an attempt to protect those responsible for the sugar crisis,” Shehbaz said in a statement.
He added, “Hiding the report would not hide Imran Khan’s crimes. The nation is aware of who stole wheat and sugar. There is no further need for inquiry or forensic audit.”
Shehbaz alleged that the federal cabinet, the Economic Coordination Committee and “those who had approved the subsidies” were responsible for the crisis. He also called for PML-N members Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Khurram Dastgir to be included in the inquiry commission, adding that then “matters would be clear”.
