ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has condemned the use of the country’s electronic and print media to “promote the narrative of criminals” and asked the media watchdog to “fulfil its responsibilities” to discourage such a trend.Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood, while briefing media on decisions taken in cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday, said: “The cabinet took notice that in any democracy, the use of the media for the promotion of personal interests or to put national institutions under pressure by convicted criminals or under trial people is never allowed.”He called on the Pakistan Electronic media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to “fulfil its responsibilities to discourage such a trend”.The move comes days after a bombshell press conference by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership during which they released a video purporting to show the accountability court judge who sentenced Nawaz Sharif to jail in the Al-Azizia reference allegedly saying there was no evidence to convict the former prime minister in the case.However, the minister clarified the judge’s video did not come under discussion during the cabinet meeting. He suggested the PML-N had better get of the video conducted itself as the burden of proof lies on it as its leadership publicly levelled accusations against the judge. “The party has a history of attacking state institutions.”The minister said the issue regarding the removal of the Senate chairman was also not discussed in the meeting of the federal cabinet.“The government fully believes in press freedom, but no democracy in the world allows the media to conduct the interviews of convicted or under-trial people,” he said.The minister said the government has asked Pemra about its policy about airing the interview of an accused. He said the government had no role in the shutting down of news channels as Pemra was an independent institution which was mandated to regulate the media according to the law.He also told reporters that the cabinet was informed that Zardari and Sharif allegedly spent Rs3.26 billion during their foreign visits as president and prime minister in nine years. Zardari spent Rs1.42 billion on his 134 foreign tours in five years (2008-2013) and Sharif Rs1.84 billion during his four-year tenure as prime minister (2013-17), Mahmood claimed.“The government has already informed the people about the opposition’s corruption power during the past 10 years. Over Rs24,000 billion loans were taken from foreign countries, which speaks volumes about their opulence,” he added.The minister claimed Zardari had spent 257 days abroad. “Zardari had wasted around Rs20 million on the pretext of tips and Rs45 million on gifts. He visited Dubai 51 times as president, out of which 48 were private visits and spent Rs100 million. On 17 visits of Asif Zardari to the United Kingdom, Rs320 million was spent.”The minister said Nawaz Sharif had spent 262 days in foreign countries during his four-year term as prime minister. “He wasted Rs30 million on tips and Rs60 million on gifts. He had undertaken 24 visits of London, out of which 20 were of a private nature, and spent Rs230 million from the public exchequer,” Shafqat added.He said the financial loss caused by the two did not end there as the Pakistan International Airlines had also suffered a loss of Rs300 to 400 million according to preliminary estimates on account of chartering its aeroplanes.He said other prime ministers during the tenures of both parties, including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the PML-N, and Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of the Pakistan Peoples Party had also “plundered the national wealth through their foreign trips”.The minister said around 214 people went along with Abbasi during his 19 foreign trips spanning over 50 days, which cost Rs259.59 million.Mahmood said the cabinet was also told that PML-N leader Khawaja Asif, during his tenure as federal minister, was holding an Iqama (foreign residential permit) and was also on the payroll of a foreign company, which was a sheer violation of the Constitution and the oath which he had taken as public office holder.The cabinet had directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to carry out thorough investigations into Asif’s Iqama case, as he had held important ministerial portfolios, including Foreign, Defence and Water and Power.On the contrary, the minister said, Prime Minister Imran Khan during his upcoming visit to the United States would stay at the house of Pakistani ambassador and only a few people, including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, would accompany him. The personal staff of the Prime Minister would stay in a three-star hotel.He said the cabinet also issued directives for the provision of details of previous rulers’ additional expenditures, including medical and other expenses, during their foreign trips, so the people could know how their money was wasted.About the rising inflation, Mahmood said the Prime Minister had issued directives to the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Hafeez Sheikh and Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi to ensure the sale of edible items like flour, ghee and pulses at “controlled rates”.He said Prime Minister’s Adviser on Austerity and Reformative Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain presented his report on restructuring of federal ministries and their attached departments. The cabinet also approved constitution of an implementation committee on the issue.He said the report reviewed the importance and responsibilities of 441 departments and presented its recommendations for improvement in their performance. He said the committee had recommended that 43 departments should be transferred to Sarmaya Pakistan Company or be privatised, and 14 be transferred to provincial governments, Islamabad Capital Territory or the Gilgit-Baltistan government.It also recommended that eight departments should be abolished, 35 be merged, and 17 be reconstructed, while 324 institutions should remain with the federation. The cabinet also approved the visa-on-arrival facility for Qatari citizens as a reciprocal move of Qatar’s earlier initiative of granting the same facility for 30 days to the Pakistani citizens.To another question, he said the Prime Minister had directed authorities to take strict measures to eliminate child sexual abuse. There are standing orders for the police to adopt zero tolerance policy against paedophilia, he added.—News Desk/APP
07-10-2019, 12:39 PM
Govt seeks to stop media promotion of ?criminals? narrative
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