Hafeez Sh believes PTI, allies to win Senate polls

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh Monday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its coalition partners were fighting a battle for the future of Pakistan and they would achieve historic victory in the Senate elections on March 3.

Addressing a press conference along with leaders of coalition partners, including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the minister said all the coalition partners wanted to put the country in the right direction and that was why they were united.

"The MQM-P, GDA, BAP and PML-Q, we all are standing with each other," he added. The people wanted that their leadership should be honest and they found the PTI most suitable, he added. He expressed the hope that there would not be any bargaining on Senate seats in the current elections.

The minister said his family had been in politics for decades and he himself had been elected as senator thrice and hopefully he would again be elected as member of the Senate. It was imperative for democracy that whoever got a chance he/she should come forward to serve the country, he added. “Some persons are endowed with some capabilities by Allah Almighty such as education and hard work due to which their services are demanded across the world,” he said. “If Allah has given me the opportunity to be affiliated with the best university of the world Harvard, it is a matter of pride for me and my family and friends.”

Likewise, he said, he had had worked with World Bank and advised 20 to 22 countries which was a blessing from Allah. He said if somebody was more intelligent and was in demand in the world, it should not be questioned.

The federal minister said whenever he was invited to come and serve the country, he was always ready to serve Pakistan.

Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque and lawmaker of MQM-P told the media his party was fully supporting the government for strengthening of democracy, parliament and rooting out corruption from the country. He said work was in full swing on a package, announced for the development of Karachi. The government of Pakistan People’s Party did not pay attention to the development of Sindh. Members of parliament belonging to Sindh were being threatened besides offering bribe to them to change their loyalties, he said. However, he said that the MQM-P stood firmly with the federal government and would support the PTI candidates in the Senate elections.

Minister of Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza said Senate elections were very important for continuity of the process and strengthening of democracy. She said the Senate elections should be held under the constitution to eliminate the corruption. Only the proportionate representation of the parties could help eliminate corruption in the elections of Senate, she said.

Tariq Bashir Cheema of the PML-Q said all allied parties had joined their hands to fully support the PTI candidate, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, in the Senate elections.