Interior Minister’s statement disappoints Pak Army Spokesman

Major General Asif Ghafoor, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), told a press conference about his statement on the state of country’s economy and a strong reaction from Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal that there were two elements of the minister’s statement – one that it was an irresponsible statement and that only the enemies of Pakistan could talk like that. He said on this he was disappointed as a soldier and as a citizen of Pakistan.

He explained that the context of his statement was a seminar on economy in Karachi in which well-known economists and opinion-makers were invited and Amy Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was the keynote speaker.
He also played the recording of a private TV show. “I never said we are not doing anything to improve our economy. You may see all my statements,” he said. “I never said that it is only the armed forces that are working. No institution can work in seclusion. There will be ups and downs and I said a lot of work has been done and lot more needs to be done”, he added.
The spokesman emphasised that security and economy were closely linked. “When people interacted with the army chief after that seminar [on Wednesday] he urged them to play their role in improving economy and pay taxes,” he said.
Maj-Gen Ghafoor pointed out that in the last year, there were hardly 39% recoveries of taxes on the notices the government had served. Out of the 39% recoveries, 95% were indirect taxes, and of the 5% direct taxes, 60% were tax deductions from the salaries of government employees, he said.
“I don’t think I had said anything [negative]. I stand by my words,” he said. “Our basic purpose of this seminar was to sit together and see if [we] have to improve our economy… what role security should [we] play for that and how economy can fulfil security needs.”
Democracy in the country faces no threat from the Pakistan Army but from the unfulfillment of the requirements of democracy and not coming up to the expectations of the people, military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said.
He said the country needed stability to move forward and emphasised that the government and the established democratic system needed to continue.