ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will chair a meeting of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) parliamentary party at the Parliament House and attend the National Assembly session on Thursday.

According to a source close to the prime minister, Mr Khan will take the lower house of parliament into confidence on his recent visits to China and Saudi Arabia. He will also apprise his party members of the current economic situation in the country and the government’s efforts to overcome the crisis.

The prime minister is attending the NA session after the opposition urged him on Wednesday to come to the parliament and inform the nation under which conditions he obtained bailout packages from Saudi Arabia and China.

On Wednesday, the prime minister held a series of meetings, including the one with parliamentarians from tribal districts, and assured them of resolving issues being faced by the people of their areas.

Mr Khan also met members of the National Assembly Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir. Both were previously associated with the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement.

The prime minister also met MNAs from Swabi, Mardan, Naushehra, Charsadda and Peshawar and sough details of development projects in their areas.

He would the lawmakers that problems of their areas will be solved on priority basis. He said the government had inherited multiple problems, including economic crisis, unemployment, poverty, water shortage, poor tax collection system and corruption, but hoped that the PTI government would rid the country of all these crises. “After six months the situation will be under control.”

The prime minister said the PTI government had set a new example to review the performance of all ministers, adding that without noticing the false propaganda of the opposition, the government was committed to fulfilling its promises made to the nation.

Mr Khan also presided over a meeting on poverty alleviation and directed the authorities concerned to take immediate steps to control stunted growth in children.

He was informed that most of the complaints of stunted growth were coming from tribal areas and Balochistan.

The prime minister stressed the need for using the local government system to provide monetary assistance to the poor and needy people.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2018