Rifts exist in PML-N leadership, claims Fawad Chaudhry

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that there were  differences among the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)  leaders. 

“There are rifts in the PML-N leadership, and I have also head that party leaders have asked Khawaja Saad Rafique to not attend PML-N meetings anymore,” he said while addressing an event on Friday.

The minister prayed for Nawaz Sharif’s health and hoped the former prime minister will return to the country and face cases against him.

He said the government had allocated a huge portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the Science and Technology sector.

“We have to efficiently run science departments of schools and colleges across the country,” he said. “Unfortunately, even after being a nuclear power we [Pakistanis] have still not been able to build a TV set,” he said.

Talking about the prime minister’s Ehsaas Programme, he said the main objective of the government's initiative was to help uplift the poor.

“The opposition parties displayed responsibility in the Army Act amendment,” he said while referring to the recently passed amendment bills.

"We are trying to build a consensus with the opposition over National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance, and will also consider their rightful demands," Fawad said.

He continued his criticism of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) saying that the institution was a powerful one, but had failed to live up to its role.

The council was also not able to prove itself responsible in several matters, he remarked.