Naeem ul Haque rules out mid-term elections

LAHORE: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Naeem-ul Haque Sunday ruled out any chances of mid-term election in the country and refuted media reports in this regard.

The media was speculating in that respect quoting the prime minister's statement out of context, he said while talking to newsmen here.

Haque said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was successfully and smoothly running the country''s affairs and taking steps to strengthen the national economy.

The government, he said, did not want any stumbling block in the country’s progress.

That was why it was making efforts to take all the political parties along to address issues of national importance, as evident from the formation of some 38 standing committees of the National Assembly, 20 of them would be headed by the government members and 18 by those from the opposition, he added.

He said leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) had met National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and assured him of their full support and cooperation for legislation in the parliament.

Replying to a question about corruption cases, he said Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had looted the national wealth.

Every person involved in corruption would be held accountable, he said, adding assets of the corrupt should be seized as the country would not make progress until such element were not punished.