Not easy to bring back Nawaz, says Sheikh Rashid

LAHORE: Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that it won’t be easy to bring back Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan.

“We are trying to bring him [Nawaz] back so he could face trial,” Rasheed told a media briefing on Saturday.

The statement from the senior minister came a day after the government vowed to bring the PML-N supremo by using all legal means.

Minister for Information Shibli Faraz on Friday had said that the government will approach the National Accountability Bureau which will in turn ask the foreign ministry to put in a request to the British government for Nawaz's extradition.

"We think it has now become necessary to bring back Nawaz Sharif," the information minister said.

Speaking about the All Parties Conference (APC), the Railways minister said there was no sign of the opposition gathering even after the Muharram.

“The Opposition is weak and cannot do anything against Imran Khan. Fazl wants a written statement from PML-N and PPP, but the PML-N will never give him anything in writing,” Rashid remarked.

He added, “Shehbaz Sharif will never give anything in writing because he is against doing it and will make a speech only. Apparently, there are differences between the PPP and PML-N but I can’t say whether they can be together. But one thing is sure, they are in no position to launch a movement against Imran Khan.”

While referring to clashes between PML-N workers and the police outside the National Accountability Bureau office in Lahore, he said stones pelted by Maryam Nawaz have actually hit Shehbaz Sharif’s politics.

“What Shehbaz had thought about his politics, Maryam has ruined it.”

“I assure you that whatever Maulana [Fazl] wants, he will not be able to get it from PPP and PML-N,” the minister said. “Both the parties are in search of an NRO, but I can tell you they will not get an NRO,” he reiterated.

Nawaz’s departure to London badly hit PTI narrative: Fawad

Earlier Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said the departure of PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to London for medical treatment caused a great setback to the narrative of the ruling PTI, as well as the process of accountability.

Chaudhry said that approaching the British government for Nawaz’s return and an inquiry into medical reports were steps in the right direction.

“Those who played a role in the preparation of the fake reports, they should be turned into examples,” said the minister.

On Friday, Minister for Information Shibli Faraz had vowed that the government "will bring back Nawaz Sharif using all legal means that are available".

Faraz had said that the government will approach the National Accountability Bureau, which will, in turn, ask the foreign ministry to put in a request to the British government for the PML-N supremo's extradition.