News Desk |
In a rare confession, the Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s information and media cells have more focused and committed workers and that it is not possible for the government to adequately handle the influx of information these days. “That is why Maryam Nawaz built up a parallel media cell in the PML-N regime”. He also said that he had suggested various offshoots of the Ministry of Information; autonomous information departments for at least five important ministries including finance.
The Information Minister made these comments while speaking to Doctor Moeed Pirzada on his prime-time show ‘Live with Moeed Pirzada” at GNN in Islamabad on Tuesday, 11th December. Mr. Chaudhry spoke at length about the various challenges faced by the information minister. “The biggest problem is fake news and to counter it”. He also referred to the recent tweets by Journalist Nusrat Javed who had alleged that Prime Minister Khan had tried to have him killed in an attack which later turned out to be a tyre puncture.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, the Minister for Railways, received applause from the cabinet for his performance as did Mr. Faisal Vawda, Federal Minister for Water Resources.
In another shocking statement, upon the question of the government’s economic performance, Mr. Chaudhry said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had effectively averted the default on international loans which required a bailout of $12 Billion. When pressed with the fact that Pakistan had received only $1 Billion in foreign packages, Mr. Chaudhry passed on the question saying that more information will be handed out in due time.
Commenting on his recent spat with the Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed when the latter had claimed to have been offered the Information portfolio, Mr. Chaudhry said that perhaps ‘people’ say these things for ‘publicity’. He also offered that these people could take up his ministry for a few months to ‘get over their enthusiasm’. Mr. Rasheed had made these claims while speaking to a press conference. He had also commented on Fawad Chaudhry being on ‘vacation in London’.
Read more: Fawad Chaudhary: Minister of Information or Disinformation?
When asked about why the contents of the 9-hour long ministries’ performance review were not disclosed to the public, Mr. Chaudhry said that it was an internal meeting and if the Prime Minister deems fit, they will be disclosed.
On Monday, 10th December, Prime Minister Khan chaired an important meeting of federal cabinet in Islamabad. The premier reviewed the performance of federal ministers and respective divisions on an individual level during the sitting. Each ministry and division were given ten minutes for a briefing after which a question & answer session was held.
Read more: “Pakistan has changed,” says information minister
Prime Minister Khan had one-on-one interactions with each minister to discuss their respective ministries and departments and the ways and means to further improve the performance. Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, the Minister for Railways, received applause from the cabinet for his performance as did Mr. Faisal Vawda, Federal Minister for Water Resources.