Nawaz tells his ministers to deliver or face expulsion
11 June, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday directed the federal cabinet to chalk out its priorities and prepare an action plan within 15 days to overcome challenges faced by the country and warned that ministers not meeting the objectives will be shown the door.
The prime minister said for certain departments such a timeframe was long enough as the issues relating to them required prompt action within 24 hours. A fortnight will enable them to have enough input for the task, he added. "To achieve targets well within the set timeframe is a greater task. I will support you and lend you every cooperation but you will have to set aside your personal interests and work with more dedication, vigour and commitment to produce better results," he added.
Addressing the maiden cabinet meeting, the prime minister stressed that they would have to solemnly promise to sacrifice everything for the national cause. "We have to prove with our actions the ability we are born with," he added. He urged the cabinet members to understand the issues of their respective ministries to achieve the goals well in time. Any member failing to meet the objectives will lose his status of responsibility furthermore, Nawaz remarked.
"Pakistan should be our priority and our efforts be focussed on to tackle the issues," he said and added that the countrymen had reposed complete confidence in them by giving a heavy mandate. "We also require to gird up our loins and come up to the hopes and expectations of the people," he stressed. The prime minister said that they required to get rid of the inertia and the lethargic attitude by taking on the challenges seriously. "Such a wishful and lethargic thinking should be discarded and a new spirit is required to be infused for the national cause by keeping personal interests aside," he added.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said that it was a defining moment in the country's history as it was facing a number of challenges on socio-economic fronts. "We need to put the country's economy back on track, eradicate poverty, eliminate intolerance, reduce load shedding, inflation and above all isolation at the international level." The prime minister urged all the cabinet colleagues to put an end to the culture of lethargy. He impressed upon them to set aside personal whims and wishes and concentrate on resolving various issues in the larger national interest. Nawaz said the performance of ministers would be reviewed every three months.
"At the moment we have to think of Pakistan and Pakistan alone. In the next five years, we can address all the issues but we should set clear-cut targets and resolve neither to indulge in corrupt practices nor allow corruption by others, to prosper," he said. He attributed the current sorry state of affairs to corruption and vowed to eradicate it by all means. The prime minister said the democratic transition of power from an elected government to another was highly praiseworthy.
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