Rana Sanaullah hopes army sticks to its decision to stay apolitical

LAHORE: Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that the army is an organised institution and policies are made on an institutional and not individual level.

Sanaullah said on Saturday that the army staying "apolitical" was the institution's decision and he hoped that it will stand by its commitment.

"The army is an organised institution where an individual's policy isn't followed," he said, taking the names of the former and current army chiefs as an example during a media talk in Lahore.

He reiterated that its was the institution's decision that the army will stay "apolitical", as it follows the institution's policy.

Sanaullah dispels claims of Swati cases being based on 'political revenge'

The interior minister then rubbished claims that the cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati were part of political revenge, saying that Swati did not target the government but two institutions.

The federal minister distanced the government from the cases against Swati.

Sanaullah said that the senator "maligned" the Pakistan Army and the judiciary and not the government. "If we wanted to file cases against them or wanted to treat them how they treated us, we would have filed cases of heroin against them," he said.

The interior minister added that cases are being filed against them in accordance with the law. "Recently, the Balochistan High Court ended cases against him. On the other hand, we have fought our cases for years," he said. 

'Govt's cases being closed after litigation'

Moving on to the alleged audio leak of former finance minister Shaukat Tarin, Sanaullah said that the former finance czar "talked about sabotaging" the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

"They don't have the power so they are bent upon destroying the country's economy," he said.

"Why shouldn't the cases against the members of the coalition government be closed since they are being closed after litigation?" he asked.

Referring to the recently concluded case against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a UK court, Sanaullah said that Daily Mail accepted its fault and apologised for it.

He claimed that the newspaper made that mistake at former federal minister Shahzad Akbar's behest.

"Imran Khan levelled false allegations against others while he himself was involved in this corruption," the minister said, adding that they should also apologise to the nation for false cases.

Govt-opposition talks

Talking about the talks between the incumbent government and the Opposition, Sanaullah said that the government is ready for "unconditional talks". He added that President Dr Arif Alvi is trying to play a role between the two parties.

"This was also done before by Parvez Khattak, Asad Qaiser, Fawad Chaudhry, and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, however, Imran Khan did not listen to them," said the minister.

When asked about PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif's return, the interior minister said that the party has requested him to be present at the next election campaign and the former prime minister has accepted it.

Drugs case

Meanwhile, a petition was filed seeking Sanaullah's acquittal in the drugs case against him.

Advocate Farhad Shah, during the hearing, said that Assistant Director Imtiaz Ahmed and inspector Ahsan Azam are denying the allegations.

The petition stated that the case has been filed on political grounds, hence, the PML-N leader should be acquitted.