MINISTER for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhary, who is known for his bold and cogent approach to issues, made a mark while speaking in BBC’s Hard Talk programme on Friday.
He faced some ticklish and toughest questions about political environment and working of political system in Pakistan and gave answers, removing some of the misconceptions on important issues.
Questions are often raised by some circles both inside the country and abroad about nature of civil-military relations, triggering wild speculations, and in this backdrop Minister’s assessment made a sense when he explained that government has due respect for opinion of institutions but decisions are made by the elected Prime Minister and his Cabinet.
In fact, rumours stem from unprecedented harmony between civilian and military leadership during tenure of present government as policy-making on relevant issues is done and decisions taken after proper consultations with and input from all stakeholders.
All this augurs well for national harmony and friction-free implementation of policies on sensitive issues as we have seen in the case of Afghan and Kashmir policy.
Fawad also believed that Prime Minister Imran Khan is the most powerful leader in Pakistan as people who voted him into power are still his ardent fans.
His contention is supported by several public opinion surveys yet popularity of the PM and his government is directly linked to delivery and provision of relief to the masses, which are weaker points of PTI government as trickle-down effect of improved macro-economic indicators is not so far visible and inflation remains the top most concern of common man.
Therefore, future of the ruling party would be determined by the electorate in next general elections purely on the basis of its performance and to what extent it succeeds in making life of the people easier.
The Minister also dispelled the impression that laws have been passed to curb social media freedom in Pakistan and reminded the host of the programme that hate speech is a universally recognised fact and all states and organisations are duty bound not to allow hate speeches.
