ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif has cautioned the president against taking ‘unconstitutional steps’ as he expressed his disapproval over the letter to the chief election commissioner.

In a meeting with leaders of coalition partners on Thursday, the prime minister said President Arif Alvi should not have written the letter to the CEC, Sikandar Sultan Raja.

In his letter last week, the president invited Mr Raja to a meeting over the dates of elections to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. Responding to the letter, the CEC told the president “he has no role in the announcement of dates” for provincial assemblies’ polls.

During Thursday’s meeting, the prime minister also proposed the idea of writing to the president on the matter, a source told Dawn.

“The government will honour and accept the CEC’s decisions,” the PM was quoted as saying.

Says govt will honour CEC’s decisions, vows to spend money saved by austerity on youth schemes

The meeting also discussed the Supreme Court’s suo motu notice on Punjab and KP elections, with the government’s legal team briefing the participants on the matter.

The PM termed the PTI’s Jail Bharo Tehreek “a flop show” as “people distanced themselves from it”.

Later, a separate meeting took place between the prime minister and PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari.

‘Laptops not Kalashnikovs’

The prime minister attended a ceremony on Thursday to distribute cheques among the beneficiaries of the Prime Minister Youth Loan Programme.

While addressing the ceremony, he said the money saved from the government’s austerity measures will be spent on youth-related schemes.

On Wednesday, the prime minister announced a slew of austerity measures to save around Rs200 billion a year.

“Like the measures we announced yesterday, under which we will save Rs200bn, more such steps will be taken to save resources,” the PM said. “This wealth will be spent on youth welfare, training and education schemes,” he added.

“We will scrape the maximum resources to extend loan facilities to the youth,” Mr Sharif said as he linked Pakistan’s progress with the success of the loan programme.

The recovery ratio of the scheme was around 99 per cent, the prime minister claimed, as he hailed the “honesty of the country’s youth”. In addition, the prime minister announced a scheme to distribute 100,000 laptops among meritorious students across the country.

“I am giving a laptop, not a Kalas­hnikov,” the prime minister remarked, as he said those who used to criticise the laptop scheme should have witnessed how it helped the youth earn money, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

PM greets Saudi leadership

Later, Prime Minister Sharif extended greetings to the leadership of Saudi Arabia on the kingdom’s founding day.

“On behalf of the people and government of Pakistan, I wish to extend our felicitations to King Salman bin Abdulaziz, HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the people of Saudi Arabia on their Founding Day,” said a tweet on the prime minister’s Twitter account.

In a separate development, the PM formed a three-member implementation committee to ensure the implementation of austerity measures. The committee comprised the finance secretary, the principal secretary to the PM and a special assistant to the PM.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2023