Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called upon the nation to support elected government's hard work for economic uplift and welfare of the country and blamed Opposition for delay in the resolution of Panama Leaks' issue.
The cabinet meeting presided over by the Prime Minister here on Wednesday also ratified Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in tax matters and Prime Minister stated the Managing Director IMF and the President Asian Development Bank, who visited Pakistan a few days ago, appreciated economic development of the country.
Speaking to Cabinet members, Prime Minister added that for the first time Pakistan has successfully completed a macro economic reforms programme with International Monetary Fund (IMF). He also thanked the nation for rejecting the "un-parliamentary" forces.
The Cabinet also praised the efforts of economic team for economic improvement and stated that the rating agencies have improved Sovereign Credit Rating of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said that government's sincere efforts to legally resolve the issue were frustrated by the Opposition.
According to him, the matter will now be resolved by the Supreme Court. Nawaz Sharif added that he himself had approached the Supreme Court to constitute a commission to adjudicate on the issue.
He also maintained that he stopped his legal team for taking up the matter of maintainability of petitions. He stated that the party's continuous success in elections whether local bodies, or Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK Legislative assemblies are testimony of peoples' trust in the elected government.
He asked Chairman Electoral Reforms Committee Ishaq Dar to give a briefing on electoral reforms to the next cabinet meeting along with comprehensive recommendations on electoral reforms in consultation with all parliamentary parties in order to take necessary constitutional steps to improve the electoral system for ensuring transparent, free and fair elections. Nawaz Sharif also paid tributes to the political maturity of nation which has rejected "un-democratic" politics.
The cabinet offered Fateha for the Shuhada of Police Training College Quetta and the victims of Gaddani Ship Fire incident as well as announced a relief package for those who lost their loved ones and/or suffered financial losses as a result of un-provoked Indian firing across LOC.
The Prime Minister also ordered an immediate inquiry to ascertain the reasons of the Gaddani Ship fire tragedy with Minister for Defense Production in the chair and Cabinet Secretary, Additional Secretary Ministry of Defense and Secretary Ports and Shipping its members.
The Prime Minister and the Cabinet lauded the efforts of Interior Minister for handling the "onslaught" and "bid to lock down Islamabad" while the Interior Minister complimented the Police and Frontier Constabulary for their commendable performance.
A report on Intended National Determined Contributions by Pakistan to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was submitted to the Cabinet for its consideration as well as discussion on National Policy on repatriation and management of Afghan Refugees has also taken place with the decision to seek further input from all stakeholders.
The Cabinet confirmed the earlier approvals of the Cabinet Committee on Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) on Right of Access to Information Bill 2016 as well as teaching of the Holy Quran in Private and Public Schools Bill 2016 and alternate Dispute Resolution Bill 2016, Pakistan Climate Change Act 2016, Corporate Rehabilitation Bill 2016, draft Companies Bill 2016 and the Cost of Litigation Bill 2016.
The Cabinet endorsed decisions taken by the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) in its meeting held on 31st October, 2016 and ratified Paris Agreement on Climate Change Pakistan signed last year and approved signing of regulations framed under an MoU on military cooperation between Pakistan and Czech Republic.
The Cabinet also approved the signing of agreement on technical cooperation between Pakistan and Brazil. The Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval to signing of Inter-governmental Framework Agreement for Peshawar-Karachi Motorway and Karakorum Highway Phase-II (Havelian-Thakot) Project.
The Cabinet also took up the articles of agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and gave a formal approval for initiation of negotiations between SBP and National Bank of Belgium on signing of a memorandum of understanding on mutual cooperation for the Banks' operations in both countries.
The Cabinet also gave approval for signing of memorandum of understanding between the State Bank of Pakistan and the Central Bank of the Philippines on cooperation in the field of banking supervision and exchange of information.
The Cabinet gave approval, in principle, to start negotiations on draft Memorandum of Understanding between Pakistan and Kuwait for recruitment of Pakistani Professionals in Kuwait through public sector.
The establishment of electronic data exchange between custom administrations of China and Pakistan under Pak-China Free Trade Agreement also came under discussion. The cabinet ratified Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. -Business RecorderÂ
