Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured the National Assembly on Wednesday that the government has not made a decision to export wheat from the country. This statement came as the State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2024 was rushed through the legislature. The bill, which allows the government to remove board members of state-owned enterprises based on recommendations from the board nomination committee, had been passed by the Senate the previous week and will become law upon President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent. During the session, the opposition leader raised concerns about a potential wheat export plan and accused Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi of involvement in an alleged wheat import scam. In response, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that there is no decision on wheat exports and highlighted the previous practice of first exporting and then importing wheat and sugar during the PTI government’s tenure. He questioned where the billions and trillions of rupees went and emphasized that this is part of history. The Prime Minister also praised National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for giving time to the opposition and contrasted it with the previous speaker’s alleged denial of permission to speak as the opposition leader. Former speaker Asad Qaiser refuted these claims and challenged the Prime Minister to verify the facts from the record.
