Nafisa proposes creation of ‘ministry of U-turns’

ISLAMABAD: Accusing the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of living up to its reputation of making U-turns at every step, MNA Dr Nafisa Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has suggested that the government create a ‘ministry of U-turns’.

Speaking at a news conference here on Thursday, she said that the government in its initial 50 days had reneged on almost all of its promises, including economic, political and governance reforms and foreign policy.

“In fact, we propose to the PTI government to set up a ministry of U-turns. There are so many that it needs a full block in the Cabinet Division — U-block — to handle their U-turns,” she said, adding that “in the first 50 days of the government, we have only witnessed ubiquitous U-turns”.

“We feel the country is being run by a trainee pilot who is making the poor people of this country go through political somersaults,” Ms Shah said, while asking the government to stop the “trial and error method” of the governance.

The PPP MNA regretted that one minister of the government issued a statement while the other made a U-turn on that statement.

She particularly lashed out at Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, saying he had virtually become a “minister for abuses and apologies”.

Ms Shah mentioned a number of incidents when various ministers had issued contradictory statements.

She said that despite the fuss three months ago, the PTI government had passed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s budget as the taxation structure of indirect taxes in the form of withholding taxes remained intact.

Ms Shah said they were still awaiting a detailed briefing on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s maiden visit to Saudi Arabia. The only information, she added, they so far had was a U-turn on the issue of inclusion of Saudi Arabia in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Similarly, she said, the petroleum minister went back on his words, by first saying “we will get oil on deferred payments, then retracting on his statement and saying we will not get oil on deferred payments”.

She said that the “government’s position on IMF is like, no, yes, perhaps”. The PPP leader said the government had been unable to present a clear picture “whether it intends to enter into an agreement with IMF”.