QUETTA: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday emphasised the need for dialogue between political parties and expressed the hope that former president Asif Zardari and leaders of other political parties would finally take the path of negotiations.

The prime minister rejected the scenario depicting confrontation between state institutions, saying the government was not in confrontation with any state institution. “The PML-N does not believe in confrontation with any institution.”

Talking to the media at the Governor House at the end of his first visit to Quetta as prime minister, he said, ‘difficult times are over’ for Balochistan and hoped that restoration of law and order would boost the development process in the province.

“Balochistan would soon emerge as the richest province of the country,” said PM Abbasi, whose schedule in Quetta included high-level meetings on law and order and development process in the province.

Rejects the notion of confrontation between state organs

In response to Mr Zardari’s statement that the PPP would not become part of grand dialogue, he said that dialogue was part of democracy and political parties never refused to hold talks.

“In the run-up to general elections, such statements do appear in newspapers,” he added.

References against Sharif

Replying to a question, Mr Abbasi said that the issue of (the PML-N’s) confrontation with the establishment did not exist as “the elected government is the establishment”.

About the post-Panama Papers case probes being faced by the ousted prime minister, his successor said, “It is the right of the others to file references against Nawaz Sharif and we have the right to defend”.

He said that the people were the best judge and they would give their verdict in the coming general elections to be held after June 4 next year.

In the meantime, he added, the PML-N government would continue to serve people, as per the vision of Nawaz Sharif.

CCI inductions

About a controversy regarding recent replacements in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) — the premier body to decide issues involving the Centre and the provinces — the PM clarified that the government had not ‘demonstrated any provincial bias” in the reconstitution of the council.

He explained that three ex-officio seats of minister of inter-provincial coordination, finance minister and industries minister had been fulfilled and among the three new inductees, one belonged to South Punjab, the second was from Central Punjab and the third from Sindh.

Prime Minister Abbasi on Thursday reconstituted the CCI with an overwhelming representation from Punjab, amid emerging crucial issues like census results and gas allocations.

The eight-member council headed by the prime minister will now have four members from Punjab. The previous CCI had two members each from the four provinces.

Under the new arrangement, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have lost one member each.

He reiterated that earlier the provinces used to get Rs1,200 billion for development that had now been increased to Rs1900bn by the PML-N government.

He said that Kachhi Canal would start functioning within a week or 10 days to irrigate around 70,000 acres of land in Balochistan.

Work on the second the phase of the project would start soon.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2017