One year of coalition govt: Pakistan restored credibility amid challenges, says PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the completion of the one-year coalition government marked a successful tenure that resulted in Pakistan’s restored credibility, and overcoming of the country’s financial and energy challenges.

“I can inform people that over the last year, we have largely succeeded in establishing Pakistan’s credibility as a partner and friend,” he wrote in a Twitter thread.

“Today marks the completion of one year since I took oath as PM of a coalition government.

“This has been a time of massive challenges and difficulties.

“It was a long journey, but sustained efforts made it possible,” he said.

Shehbaz recalled that the passage of a no-confidence vote against former prime minister Imran Khan Niazi’s government was unprecedented.

“[It was unprecedented] not because the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) came into power, but because almost all of Pakistan’s political forces came together to use the forum of Parliament to vote out an unpopular govt through constitutional means,” he said. The prime minister said the coming together of political parties with different manifestos for a common national cause represented a “major step forward in the country’s political evolution.

“Reconciliation and cooperation, instead of confrontation and vendetta marked the new politics post-April 22,” he said.

He said that despite the economic landmines laid by Imran and the disruptions in global fuel and food supply lines, Pakistan’s economy continued to stay afloat.

“All predictions of default turned out to be false alarms. Sincere efforts are underway to revive the economy,” he said. The premier said the coalition government has been at pains to repair, rebuild and deepen Pakistan’s diplomatic relations that were dealt a severe blow by the “Niazi regime”.

He said Pakistan faced unprecedented floods last year. The decisiveness with which the government undertook rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts, provided social protection to millions of people and mobilised international community has been acknowledged by the world as outstanding, he added.

He mentioned that the government employed climate diplomacy to present Pakistan’s case on the international stage.

“As Chair of G77 plus China, we were instrumental in the establishment of loss and damage fund. Pledges of US$ 9 billion at Geneva moot are evidence of our successful diplomacy,” he said.

He said in the last one year, the coalition government made efforts to diversify the energy mix with the aim to provide relief to the citizens. “The renewed focus on solar, hydel, and coal power projects is aimed at replacing the costlier sources of power generation with cheaper ones,” he said.

The prime minister pointed out that inflation hit people hard globally, adding that geo-strategic rivalries, increase in prices of fuel and food commodities, and historic floods are some of the key factors responsible for inflation.

“Mindful of its impact, the government has expanded the social safety net and provided targeted subsidies,” he said.

He said under the watch of the PDM government, Pakistan managed to exit the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, thanks to the excellent inter-ministerial coordination as well as support extended by the military leadership.

He said building on the public transport infrastructure, the government, since its inception in April last year, focused on early completion of the development and transport infrastructure projects in Islamabad.

“Idea was to provide ease, comfort and affordable mobility to the people,” he said.