-PM intervenes, directs special assistants, advisers to disclose assets
By Shakeel Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday directed special assistants and advisers in the provincial cabinet to disclose details of their assets after it was informed during the cabinet meeting that three of them are yet to reveal details despite clear directives from the premier, media reported citing sources.
The issue was raised by Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda during the cabinet meeting headed by the prime minister today.
Vadwa while raising the matter before the cabinet said that the members should disclose their assets and dual citizenship details.
“The cabinet members should clear their position to ensure transparency from the top level,” he said.
The prime minister while agreeing with the demand, asked as to how many special assistants and advisers in the cabinet have revealed their assets.
To this, Imran Khan was informed that two special assistants and an adviser are yet to reveal their assets.
Moreover, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar also raised a matter relating to remarks made by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry during an interview with an international news outlet.
The prime minister directed the cabinet members to remain careful while giving statements and asked them to ensure unity among their ranks. The cabinet meeting also saw a heated debate over the performance of ministers and advisers.
For several months now political analysts have speculated that there are rifts within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as well as camps within the party who are dissatisfied with how the party is being run. The party’s top leadership can no longer afford to ignore the infighting either, it appears.
The PTI government has six months to perform, said Federal Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry in an interview with an international news organisation. Fawad claimed Prime Minister Imran Khan has told the federal cabinet that if it does not perform within six months, matters may escalate. In the interview, Fawad stressed that there were great expectations from the prime minister and the PTI government. It came into power on the promise of reforming the entire system, not just fixing nuts and bolts, he said. He added that PM Imran’s vision of systemic change was very clear before he came into power.
However, once the government was formed, there were many quarrels between senior leaders Asad Umar, Jehangir Tareen and Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
The internal strife within the party hurt the government, opined Fawad.
“Imran’s core team broke up. The new people are frankly not aligned with his idea and maybe don’t have the capacity to do so. The infighting has caused a lot of harm to the party and its political cadre.”
The federal minister further said that it is the government’s own shortcomings that it cannot deliver. The government runs on two things politics and governance, if there is a lack of balance between the two, matters can go awry at any time, he elaborated. Giving an example of the infighting within the ruling party, he said: “When Asad Umar was the finance minister, Jehangir Tareen made every effort to get him removed and when Asad Umar came back, he ousted Jehangir Tareen.”
