File photo of P.M. Sharif addressing the National Assembly
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday marked the completion of a year since his government came into power, sharing his perspective on the past 12 months during a time of “massive challenges and difficulties.”
In a series of posts on Twitter, he said it had been a year since he took oath as prime minister of the ruling coalition. “The passage of no-confidence vote against Imran Niazi’s government was unprecedented not because PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement] 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 government through constitutional means,” he said, noting that the political allies had different manifestoes but they had come together for a common national cause, representing a major step forward in the country’s political evolution.
“Reconciliation and cooperation, not confrontation and vendetta mark the new politics post-April 2022,” he said.
“Despite the economic landmines laid by Imran Khan and disruptions in global fuel and food supply lines, Pakistan’s economy has continued to stay afloat,” he said. “All predictions of default have turned out to be false alarms. Sincere efforts are underway to revive the economy,” he said, adding that the incumbent government had been striving to “repair, rebuild and deepen Pakistan’s diplomatic relations that were dealt a severe blow by Niazi regime.”
Claiming that his government had “largely succeeded” in re-establishing Pakistan’s credibility as a partner and friend, he recalled that last year’s unprecedented floods had also occurred during his time as prime minister. “The decisiveness with which the government undertook rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts; provided social protection to millions of people; and mobilized international community has been acknowledged by the world as outstanding,” he said, adding that the government had employed climate diplomacy to present its case on the international stage. “As chair of G77 plus China, we were instrumental in the establishment of loss and damage fund. Pledges of $9 billion at Geneva moot are evidence of our successful diplomacy,” he emphasized.
“In the last one year, we have made efforts to diversify the energy mix with an 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 of his government’s energy policy as citizens continue to protest a massive increase to utility prices that has driven up inflation.
“Inflation has hit people hard globally,” Sharif acknowledged. “Geo-strategic rivalries, increase in prices of the fuel and food commodities and historic floods are some of the key factors responsible for inflation. Mindful of its impact, government has expanded social safety net and provided targeted subsidies,” he said of ongoing efforts to alleviate the impact of record-high inflation.
“Under the watch of the PDM government, Pakistan managed to exit the FATF grey list, thanks to the excellent inter-ministerial coordination as well as support extended by our military leadership. It was a long journey but sustained efforts made it possible,” he said. “Building on the public transport infrastructure, 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 added.