PESHAWAR: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed welcomed on Friday the Pakistan Peoples Party’s decision to participate in the upcoming Senate elections.
Addressing a press conference during a visit to Torkham, the interior minister stated that he was hoping the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) will also change its mind.
As for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the federal minister said the JUI-F chief had no seat in the parliament and was irrelevant. “He is trying to lead the opposition into a dead alley,” Rashid stated.
Answering a media person’s query, the interior minister replied that wise politicians never close the doors for dialogue, adding that talks with the opposition were bound to happen, either today or tomorrow, but will certainly happen.
Speaking of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Rashid said his passport is expiring on February 16th and will not be renewed after that. All efforts were being made to bring Sharif back, he said, but not much can be done in the absence of an extradition treaty between Pakistan and Britain.
“I don’t know when Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan, the interior minister said.
Commenting on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s efforts, Rashid said the prime minister was constantly waging a battle with the sugar, flour and other mafias.
“The government is taking all the necessary steps to bring down prices of essentials and improve the country’s economy,” he said.
Rashid said he was confident that PM Imran will complete his five-year term with great success.
Asked about the law and order situation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), he said that the situation was ideal and anybody saying anything to the contrary was spreading propaganda.
K-P and the Pakhhtuns have made countless sacrifices in the war against terrorism, he said.
“There was a serious threat coming in from the western border but the Pathans never surrendered and faced the threat head on, making countless sacrifices in the process,” Sheikh Rashid added.
The interior minister also spoke about the minorities, saying, “It is our [government’s] duty to safeguard the rights and lives of the minorities, and will continue to do so.”
A day after the PPP surprised everyone with the announcement of contesting the upcoming Senate elections, PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz said that she would listen to recommendations from chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari himself, adding that the decision to take part in by-elections or Senate polls would be taken with mutual consultation.
“We don’t backtrack on the PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement] decisions made at the all-party conference (APC), but we want to send the selected and incompetent government of Imran Khan packing. If he does not resign till January 31, our deadline given to him, then we will kick him out,” Bilawal said after the party’s CEC meeting on Tuesday, December 29.
Sources privy to the development told media that during the CEC meeting, some PPP leaders opposed the idea of tendering resignations from the Sindh Assembly and proposed a struggle inside parliament by bringing no-confidence motion against the PTI-led government.