As the federal coalition completed a year in power, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that “sincere” measures were underway to rebuild Pakistan’s economy and recalled problems faced by his government over the last year.
Last year, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) successfully courted PTI and associated MPs when they launched a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan. His tenure as premier ended on April 10 when the opposition’s no-trust motion against him was defeated by 174 votes out of 342 casts.
The next day, Shehbaz Sharif won 174 votes in a one-sided election in the National Assembly and was chosen Prime Minister after the PTI announced the resignation of all of its lawmakers.
The PDM government has presided over unprecedented inflation, and economists believe the country’s economy is “going off the rails.”
On completing a year in office today, the premier offered his opinions on the challenges and problems faced by the government in a Twitter thread.
He stated that the no-confidence vote against the Imran-led government was “unprecedented not because the PDM came to power, but because almost all of Pakistan’s political forces came together to use Parliament as a forum to vote out an unpopular government through constitutional means.”
“The alliance of political parties with disparate platforms for a common national cause represents a significant step forward in the country’s political evolution.” “The new politics after April 22 will be marked by reconciliation and cooperation, not confrontation and vendetta,” he tweeted.
PM Shehbaz added that despite “economic landmines” thrown out by the PTI chairman and global gasoline and food supply lines, the current government had managed to keep Pakistan’s economy afloat.
“All predictions of default have proven to be false alarms.” Sincere efforts are being made to revitalize the economy.”
The coalition government, he claimed, had been “at pains” to mend, rebuild, and deepen Pakistan’s diplomatic connections, which had been dealt a “severe blow” by the “Nazi regime.”
“I can assure people that we have largely succeeded in establishing Pakistan’s credibility as a partner and friend over the last year,” he said.
PM Shehbaz also cited last year’s terrible floods, noting that his government’s rescue, relief, and restoration efforts, as well as mobilisation of the international community, were deemed “outstanding” by the globe.
“The government used climate diplomacy to present Pakistan’s case on the global stage.” We were instrumental in establishing the loss and damage fund as Chair of the G77 plus China. “Our successful diplomacy is evidenced by USD 9 billion pledges at the Geneva moot,” he said.
The prime minister said, “In the last year, we have made efforts to diversify the energy mix in order to provide relief to citizens.” He stated that the increasing emphasis on solar, hydel, and coal power plants is intended to replace more expensive forms of power generation with less expensive ones.
In response to the country’s sky-high inflation, PM Shehbaz stated that the government has enlarged the social safety net and given targeted subsidies.
He also mentioned Pakistan’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, which he attributed to “excellent inter-ministerial coordination as well as support extended by our military leadership.”
It was a long journey but sustained efforts made it possible, the PM said.
“Building on the public transport infrastructure, govt, since its inception in April last year, focused on early completion of the development and transport infrastructure projects in Islamabad,” he added, pointing out that the idea was to provide ease, comfort, and affordable mobility to the people.
