Shehbaz assures to address complaint of gas load shedding

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has assured to address the complaint of gas load-shedding during Sehar and Iftar time.

Responding to the point of Agha Rafiullah in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said he has already taken notice of this complaint and a meeting to address the issues will be held today.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that agreements are being signed with different countries including those in Europe for the export of Pakistani manpower. Parliamentary Secretary for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Agha Rafiullah told the house during question hour that an MoU in this regard had been signed with Germany.

The Parliamentary Secretary said special courts will be established to address the property related matters of overseas Pakistanis who are contributing to the socio economic development of the country through remittances. Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan said the government has taken practical steps and released special grants for the uplift of hockey. He said we have restored the departmental sports to enhance the talent pool.

National Assembly also held discussion on Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill, 2023. Earlier, the Bill was moved by Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar.

Speaking on the occasion, the Law Minister said it is a people-friendly legislation and the office bearers of bar associations have also supported this bill. He said the relevant standing committee also held threadbare discussion on the bill and cleared it.

In his remarks, Opposition Leader Raja Riaz noted that the bill would strengthen the judiciary and help provide justice to the common man. He said the bill also represents the aspirations of the legal fraternity. Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman rejected the impression of a confrontation between parliament and the judiciary. She said enacting legislation is the right of the parliament.

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said there is an across the board support for Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill, which is not aimed at usurping the powers of the judiciary. He said the powers of one man rather are being devolved to the three judges of the Supreme Court. The Minister said the mandate of the people and the constitution gives us the right to legislate. He said this legislation should have been done much earlier.

In his speech, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill will empower the country’s judiciary. He termed the bill as historic. He pointed out that the country is faced with multiple crises and there is need for unity to steer it out of them. The House will now meet again tomorrow (Thursday) at 12:00 pm.

PM hails removal of Pakistan from EU’s High Risk Countries list: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday hailed the removal of Pakistan from the European Union’s list of “High-Risk Third Countries”, saying it would facilitate the country’s businesses, individuals and entities.

“De-listing of Pakistan from EU’s updated list of high-risk third-countries is a major development which would facilitate our businesses, individuals and entities,” he said in a tweet. The prime minister said it was a reflection of the government’s unwavering resolve to further strengthen anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing regime.

The European Union (EU) authorities removed Pakistan from the list of ‘High-Risk Third Countries’ that had strategic deficiencies in the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime and posed a serious threat to their financial system. According to the Delegated Regulation, following the measures implemented to address the action plans agreed with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Nicaragua, Pakistan and Zimbabwe remedied the strategic deficiencies in their respective AML/CFT regimes and no longer pose a significant AML/CFT threat to the international financial system.