Nawaz involved in toppling PTI govt: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and former governor Sindh Imran Ismail Thursday claimed that Imran Khan will now focus on Sindh and spend time there to eliminate the politics of Zardari and his disciples just as the people in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces saw a new sun rising.

Flanked by PTI’s Senior Vice-President Chaudhry Fawad Hussain here, he said that the leader of opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh had been arrested for the 10th time and the only reason was that CM Murad Ali Shah does not want him to speak against corruption and his entire time was spent in going to courts and police stations.

“Today we have spoken to Imran Khan. Now we are landing in Sindh fully and Imran Khan will stay put in Sindh from where the politics of Zardari and his disciples will be eliminated,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Fawad claimed that ex-PM Nawaz Sharif was involved in toppling of the PTI government and added the assurance of sending the government packing through a no-confidence motion was given to him. He maintained that this game would not be allowed to run that Nawaz and Maryam were aloof and all was done by Shehbaz Sharif.

Fawad also strongly condemned the arrest of Sheikh and demanded his immediate release. Commenting on the Sindh government, he alleged that there is no such thing as a government, as the flood situation in Sindh and Balochistan was very bad but the Federation was sitting completely silent and did not feel the need to impose emergency in these areas.

He said that Bilawal Bhutto gave so many speeches in the assembly yesterday but does not go to office for many days himself and currently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was being run only by a secretary. “We want the present government to look into its affairs on its own and prepare a framework with political parties by announcing the date of early elections,” he said. Otherwise, he said they would send the government packing.

To a question, he said that the establishment is also a cure, but now the role of the establishment in Pakistan was becoming limited and should be. He alleged the ruling coalition, particularly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, was out to create divisions in the judiciary and the army. However, he was hopeful that both the judiciary and army would not be trapped in their plot. He also regretted the government also was using the bar people to divide the judiciary.

In response to another question, he said that it was imperative to bring changes in the judiciary for justice but these should not be as revenge. Fawad added that changes should be brought about collectively, involving the stakeholders and in consultations with the judiciary.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Secretary General Asad Umar Thursday slammed the government for its flawed economic policies and poor management, which was evident from the alarming downward spiral of the rupee against the dollar. He called the ‘imported government’ inept and incompetent and blamed it for the economic meltdown and the rupee free-fall, as the economy was bleeding to death. Asad said that dollar crossed the 240 mark since vote of no confidence being moved against the PTI government.

Meanwhile, PTI Senator and senior leader Shaukat Tarin said: “Surely SOEs shares buy back in the future will be a certain%age over the prevailing market price. Given, the present price is 50% of 2020 valve, for $2bn we will be paying minimum in excess of $4.5bn. The imported govt is clueless and can’t satisfy the IMF. They shd go home,” he tweeted.

Senator Tarin also wrote, “This is outrageous. Why are we selling our family silver when share prices of our profitable SOEs are at a deep discount due to a no dividends given in last few years bec of liquidity and b) the PSX crash since imported has taken over. Will someone stop this insanity”.