KARACHI, May 21: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali on Wednesday criticized the opposition’s behaviour during the recently concluded negotiations on the Legal Framework Order and other related issues.

Speaking as chief guest at the second export trophy awards ceremony of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) at PAF Museum, the prime minister was highly critical of the opposition’s role and said it had caused a damage to the interest of the country. The ceremony was attended by over 1,000 people.

The prime minister blamed the opposition for the failure of talks over the LFO, and said as a result of this the country had been denied membership of the Commonwealth.

Lambasting the opposition, the prime minister said it was the very people who kept shifting their stance over different issues. He said whenever a martial law was imposed in the country they demanded revival of democracy and when there was a democratic government they sought military intervention.

As a result of the indifferent attitude of the opposition, Mr Jamali said, a setback was witnessed in the shape of failure of negotiations with the opposition. Consequently, he added, the Commonwealth rejected the country’s re-entry because it was unhappy with the wrangling over the issue of LFO.

However, the prime minister said, he was a staunch believer of democracy and was of the opinion that in every political setup all issues were resolved through negotiations.

Mr Jamali said he would face every challenge and would not turn his back from such situations.

The prime minister advised the business community to adopt a similar approach for the resolution of their problems. He said we all owed to this country and our priority should be Pakistan.

Referring to prospects of dialogue with India, the prime minister said people of both the countries had suffered a lot and there had been no people-to-people contact since long.

Mr Jamali said he felt confident that some understanding would be reached with India, but he said both sides would have to show some flexibility. He said people of South Asia had a right to lead a prosperous life and this was only possible by having good relations with India.

The prime minister said air links between the two countries would be restored soon and flights between Karachi and Mumbai would also resume.

Mr Jamali said commitments made by the previous government with multilateral agencies had to be honoured and all possible efforts would be made to give concessions and incentives to the business community.

Without referring to the forthcoming budget, the prime minister assured the business community that some concessions and incentives would be given this year to give economy a boost.

Appreciating exporters’ performance in enhancing rice exports, Mr Jamali said since exporters had done their job now it was the finance and commerce ministers turn to do their job.

He stated that whatever commitments he had made during the last six months had been fulfilled and held out the assurance that his government would continue to support the business community in its endeavour to enhance exports. However, he asked the exporters to take along rice growers with them because their well-being was directly linked with them.

Mr Jamali said he would inaugurate tomorrow (Thursday) a one-window facility at the PIDC where businessmen could get utility connections and other facilities for setting up industrial and business establishments.

Unlike in the past when the governments promised to provide one-window operations but kept the doors closed, he said, this time it would be fully operational.

Referring to his visit to Gwadar port, the prime minister said the upcoming port would be a gateway between East and West and would usher an era of prosperity both for Balochistan and the country as a whole.

He said the Gwadar development authority would be set up next week to maintain the pace of work at the port and also had a committee which could oversee the affairs of this important project.

Similarly, he said, work on another mega project of Thar canal was going on in Sindh which was looked after by the Thar Development Authority.

Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan, Production Minister Liaquat Jatoi also spoke on the occasion. Sindh Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar and minister of state and chairman Export Promotion Bureau Tariq Ikram was also present on the occasion.

Prime minister Zafarullah Jamali gave away gold medals and export trophy awards on the occasion. The finance and commerce ministers were also presented gold medals by the REAP chairman for their contribution towards promotion of rice exports. Former commerce minister Abdul Razak Dawood was also given a gold medal.

The REAP Chairman, Abdul Rahim Janoo, also presented a shield to the prime minister on behalf of REAP members.