• Results of performance review should be made public, says Naqvi
• Naqvi says stood by remarks that system “completely destroyed.”
• Naqvi says assessment will reveal which ministries are falling short.

LAHORE: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Wednesday that the existing system was not going anywhere and would complete its full constitutional term of five years.

Speaking to Geo News exclusively, Naqvi said he would advise Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to conduct a comprehensive performance review of all federal cabinet ministers, adding that the assessment should be carried out by a third party and its results placed before the public.

He added that the assessment would reveal which ministries were delivering and which were falling short.

Responding to a question, the minister also said he was “grateful” to those who remarked that he had covered a 30-year political journey in just three years.

Naqvi’s remarks at an event last week sparked speculation about a new governance system and the creation of new provinces after he said the existing system had collapsed and called for the establishment of new administrative units.

“The system we are living under has collapsed. Problems cannot be solved through it,” the minister had said, adding that the country would continue to face the same challenges over the next decade unless fundamental reforms were introduced.

Talking to Geo News today, Naqvi said an independent assessment would clearly indicate the performance of each ministry. He also said his attendance at federal cabinet meetings stood at around 70%.

Referring to his earlier remarks about governance, Naqvi said he still stood by his statement that the country’s system had been “completely destroyed,” clarifying that he was referring to the deterioration of the system over the past 80 years.

He said if the system had functioned properly over the decades, Pakistan would have made far greater progress. Naqvi rejected the impression that he had issued a charge sheet against the government, saying he himself was part of the administration and would not indict his own government.

The interior minister praised PM Shehbaz’s work ethic, saying the premier worked between 14 and 16 hours a day. He added that if the system improved, the country’s results would improve “a thousand-fold.”

Naqvi said the government had increased Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) revenue, won the war, and achieved diplomatic successes despite operating within a flawed system. He added that had the prime minister inherited a better system, the country would have progressed a hundred times faster.

Commenting on speculation about differences with the premier, Naqvi said some people wished to see his relationship with PM Shehbaz deteriorate, but dismissed such notions.

Govt’s response

The remarks also attracted response from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) federal ministers, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif suggesting Naqvi to begin efforts to reform the country’s governance system from within the Interior Ministry.

The defence minister also noted that Naqvi had occupied some of the country’s most powerful positions for the past 3.5 years and could have initiated reform efforts during that period. “Better late than never,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sanaullah also criticised Naqvi’s remarks, saying those who had benefited from the existing system were now claiming it was no longer capable of functioning.

Sanaullah said some individuals had achieved in three-and-a-half years what others took decades to accomplish, yet were now arguing that the system could no longer move forward.

He defended Pakistan’s parliamentary democratic framework and said concerns about the system should be debated through democratic institutions rather than used to undermine the parliamentary order.