A day after President Dr Arif Alvi went it alone and fixed April 9 as the date for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that doctors had Nawaz Sharif, the head of N) has been given permission. Traveling to Pakistan.
Federal minister said Pakistan’s politics needed the supremo of the Muslim League (N) – a three-time prime minister who has been in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019.
He also suggested that the Muslim League (N) and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) should contest the upcoming elections together under the platform of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of nine political parties. Must compete.
According to the Muslim League (N) leader, if the coalition government had held general elections soon after the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was toppled by a no-confidence vote – it would have It would have been in April last year. The ruling has been “politically beneficial” to the alliance.
In response to a question, the Defense Minister said that the ousted prime minister has no political ideology or narrative. “Imran Khan tendered his resignation with us during the judiciary reform campaign,” Asif recalled. At the same time, he said that it is natural because of differences of opinion between him and the PTI chief.
Since the 2013 general elections, Khan has started drawing support from Rawalpindi, Asif said, apparently quoting the establishment.
In response to another question, the federal minister accused former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa of “managing” the 2018 elections.
Rejecting Khan’s allegations, Asif said that the former army chief did not help the Muslim League-N in the elections.
Responding to a question regarding the recent allegations of misappropriation of funds of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, the minister said that the hospital should not be targeted in political statements.
Taking a dig at Imran Khan’s close aide Sheikh Rasheed, Asif said: “People who are arrested these days cry a lot.”
Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Rashid was arrested by the Islamabad police on February 2 in a case in which he claimed on TV that he was against PPP co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari. They were involved in a fresh assassination plot. Imran Khan.
Later, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted the bail application of the former interior minister against the submission of a surety bond of Rs 50,000.
Criticizing the ousted prime minister, Asif added that the current rulers should have published the agreement between the previous PTI government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – as the PDM government was taking tough decisions. , increasing taxes and tariffs on utility services. 1.1 billion to meet the conditions of the global lenders for the acquisition of the tranche.
A day earlier, the National Assembly had unanimously approved the government’s much-needed Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023 or ‘Money Budget’ – a measure required to secure the IMF loan tranche.
The Defense Minister further said that ‘Imran Khan’s popularity graph fell during the last three days.
“The previous government violated the IMF condition,” he said, adding that he was not expecting the PTI government to have so many “economic mines” [of the current coalition government. For] are laid.
Asif also said that friendly countries are also unable to help Pakistan due to IMF pressure.
Amid rising political temperatures in the country, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah also said last month that Nawaz Sharif would return to Pakistan “with dignity” after dealing with legal issues.
While talking to journalists in London, the federal minister also expressed the hope that Nawaz Sharif would soon land in the country and head the party’s parliamentary board to finalize the candidates for the upcoming general elections.
