Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the resignation of senior Punjab Minister Aleem Khan following his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has indicated “a change in culture” under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
Addressing the media at an event in Islamabad, Chaudhry said the senior Punjab minister sent his resignation to the chief minister as soon as he came to know about his arrest orders.
“The way Aleem Khan tendered his resignation depicts a clear difference in culture … it tells a lot about prevailing culture in PTI and other political parties,” he remarked, adding that opposition parties would now find it difficult to come up with further criticism [against NAB and the government].
The information minister said that the ruling party fully backed the ongoing accountability process, and stood by state institutions. “Stability of institutions ensures Pakistan’s stability,” he added.
Opposition parties, especially the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party have often questioned the accountability drive, terming it discriminatory, and aimed at pushing them to the wall.
Earlier in the day, NAB Lahore took into custody the provincial minister after his appearance before the anti-graft watchdog. He is accused of owning assets beyond known means, which he allegedly acquired through an offshore company as revealed in the Panama Paper leaks.
Separately, Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday said the government can not step in and be the saviour of the media industry in the country as “the media will not remain independent”.
Addressing an event on digital media in Islamabad, the information minister also said governments had inflated media budgets to a large degree and such organisations must rely primarily on modern technology, instead of the government subsidies. He added that the government was working to bring print and digital mediums under a single regulatory body and also create an organisation for workers being laid off in the industry.
He further urged media houses to pay heed to market forces.
Towards the end of 2018, the government slashed its advertising budget and re-negotiated rates with different media houses and hundreds of journalists were laid off in the aftermath.
Fawad also invited social media giant Facebook to open its office in Pakistan to get advertisement business.
Published in Daily Times, February 7th 2019.
