Fawad Chaudhry, the Information Minister, stated on Tuesday that the government will bring back self-exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif because he would never return himself, and that the opposition would not be able to topple the current administration led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
“Nawaz Sharif would never return home voluntarily,” the minister said at a joint press conference with National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf following a meeting of the federal cabinet. “Rather, the government will bring him back once the arrangement with the UK government is finalised.”
The Sharif family in Jati Umra was concerned after former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq stated he was heading to London to bring Nawaz Sharif back, Mr Chaudhry said, adding that the government has finalised matters with the United Kingdom over Nawaz Sharif’s return.
“The opposition parties’ so-called protest movement will not be able to overturn the current democratically elected government,” he stated, asserting that only [Prime Minister] Imran Khan could function as genuine opposition.
“For agitation in politics, real leadership is essential, which the opposition lacks,” the minister stated, adding that opposition leaders were instilling false optimism in their supporters.
When told that Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman had called for a protracted march to bring down the government, the minister replied the Maulana had been making similar statements for the past three years.
“Maulana Fazl arrived in Islamabad with his supporters in the first year of the PTI administration’s mandate with the mistaken hope of overthrowing the government; since then, he has been offering dates,” he claimed.
Mr Chaudhry claimed the Sicilian mafia — Nawaz Sharif and his family — was so powerful that it had even plotted against the judiciary, as evidenced by former chief justice of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim’s affidavit filed before the Islamabad High Court.
In response to a question, the information minister stated that the government was forced to approach the IMF due to the loot and pillage perpetrated by Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif.
Instead of relying on point-scoring, he stated the opponent should come up with an alternative option if they had one. Prime Minister Imran Khan, the minister claimed, has built the groundwork for a transparent administration, with lawmakers’ and their families’ riches on display for all to see.
