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PTI 100 Day performance: special ceremony underway

PTI 100 Day performance: special ceremony underway
November 29, 2018
A ceremony to mark first 100-day performance of the PTI government started at Convention Center in Islamabad on Thursday afternoon. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is holding an event at the Jinnah Convention Centre in Islamabad to apprise the nation of the government's performance over the first 100 days in power. Senator Faisal Javed formally opened the event with a brief intro before making way for recitation of the Holy Quran. Minutes later, the senator reclaimed the rostrum before a video highlight of the Prime Minister Imran Khan and the federal government's first 100 days in power was played for the audience. Prime Minister Imran Khan began by thanking first lady Bushra Bibi for putting up with his tough schedule, adding that “I have taken just a single day off in the first 100 days.” The prime minister said that the policies adopted by his government in the first century of days in power were inspired by the state of Madina. Currently, Prime Minister Imran Khan is addressing the ceremony and explaining about the performance of the incumbent government in first 100 day. Neighboring country wants to push Pakistan into isolation Speaking at the ceremony, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the neighboring country wants to push Pakistan into isolation, mentioning that yesterday, during the ground-breaking ceremony of Kartarpur corridor, the ambitions of neighbor country was seen but Prime Minister Imran Khan took positive step toward peace as ‘googly’ of Kartarpur was threw by the prime minister. He said that Pakistan’s case at global level was not heard before, something his ministry was trying to address. “Our neighbour wanted to weaken Pakistan,” he said. “We could not present Pakistan’s case before the world because we did not have a lawyer. "We decided that we would make our foreign office more interactive and started cultural diplomacy. We decided to take guidance and advice from former diplomats. We will also create a specialised foreign office, [and appoint] trained personnel. “You will be happy to know that in 100 days we have had 16 multilateral engagements,” the foreign minister explained. He also said that the first thing on the PTI government's foreign agenda was to have better relations with Afghanistan. Qureshi also discussed Pakistan's bilateral relations with India, saying: “Tensions with India are not hidden from anyone but our approach is people-centric and we need peace for people to prosper. We need peace in order to speed up the development of our country.” He reminded the audience that Imran khan said he will take two steps for every one step India takes but regretted that “they refused to engage even after the letter written to Narendra Modi.” Govt won’t hide behind IMF, deal to be signed for national interests Addressing a ceremony regarding completion of PTI’s first 100 days in government at the Convention Centre, Minister for Finance said that the government won’t hide behind the IMF, terming that the agreement with IMF will be signed considering national interests. The finance minister said that the PTI government inherited a deficit of Rs230 billion which he said has already been reduced by Rs130 billion. He mentioned that the government may also seek alternate channels instead of solely relying on the IMF to plug the financing gap. “I take credit for telling the PM that you will have take a U-turn on your promise to not travel for 100 days because this was in favour of the country,” he recalled. Umar defended his taxation and pricing policies, explaining that the tariffs were hiked only of those commodities that are used by the affluent section of the society. “I am not saying that all problems have been solved and Pakistanis are not facing any problems but in the past 100 days we have set the direction.” Govt achieved 18 out of 34 targets, traces assets $11 billion abroad Prime Minister adviser on Establishment Muhammad Shahzad Arbab said, while addressing to the 100 days performance of event, at least 34 targets in the 100-day agenda achieved by the federal government. “We have achieved 18 of them while work on the rest of the 16 is going speedily,” the adviser said. Arbab Shahzad said that an asset recovery unit was established that detected properties worth 11 billion dollars abroad. The advisor assured that 50 million houses would be completed at any cost. He also said notices have been sent to thousands of persons who are not tax filers. He added that the focus has also been made on brining reforms in FBR as part of improving the tax machinery, he said. Arbab said that the PTI government held regular cabinet meetings, adopted austerity and held itself accountable.