Lahore: Pakistani Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad has said the Parliamentary system is protected under constitution of the country.

He was responding to a question about the chances of replacing the parliamentary system with presidential form of governance in the country, during a press conference at the Railways headquarters here on Saturday morning.

“The country will move ahead within the limits of the Parliamentary system only,” he said.

He said that the PTI government would complete its five-year tenure under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said that Imran was working hard to improve the system and uplift the underprivileged and it was his prerogative to change any minister whenever he liked it.

He said that the national exchequer’s coffers were empty when the PTI took charge and Asad Umar did his utmost effort for the improvement in the economy.

“I will request him to change his decision of leaving the cabinet,” he added.

The minister said that newly appointed adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was also a good economist and politician.

To a question, Shaikh Rashid said that there was no room for Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari in the national politics in future.

“PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will also damage his political career if he tried to protect his father’s corruption,” he said.

He was of the view that people like “Sharifs and Zardari badly looted the country and the current inflation was result of their corruption.”

“Nawaz and Zardari are responsible for the inflation, price hike and heavy utility bills,” he added.

To another question, he said that there was no option other than going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to the bad financial condition of the country which PTI inherited from its predecessors.

“The World Bank and Islamic Bank will also provide financial cooperation after Pakistan finalises deal with IMF,” he added.

The minister said that the Railways earned Rs4 billion (Dh104 million) more than its target this year, adding that workers would be facilitated in the upcoming budget of the railways.

He alleged that some international forces were conspiring against the ML-1 and these forces were creating hurdles in this regard.

However, he hoped that the agreement regarding the ML-1 with China would be signed during his visit to China between April 25 to 27 and the nation would hear a good news about the railways soon.

“After the upgrade of ML-1, the journey between Karachi and Lahore will be reduced to eight hours,” he said.

Minimum speed at the ML-1 would be 160km/hour, he said.

Shaikh Rashid said that the railways would provide employment to at least 150,000 people in the near future.

He said that the Railways was the backbone of the country, but previous governments wasted national funds on roads instead of railways.