Dinner with MBS: How those facing courts can be invited: minister

ISLAMABAD: The Information and Broadcasting Minister, Fawad Chaudhry, on Saturday ruled out the possibility of inviting the opposition to the dinner to be hosted in honour of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS).

In a tweet, the minister wondered how the opposition leaders could be invited to the dinner while their central leaders were either in jail in corruption cases or on bail or facing investigation. “And it will be useless if those, who are left, are invited, because of their stature. The absence of a serious opposition is a political crisis. In coming times, a serious leadership may emerge in the ranks of opposition,” he retorted.

During a media briefing on the cabinet decisions on Thursday, the minister while commenting on the grant of bail to Leader of Opposition Shahbaz Sharif claimed that the development had disappointed the government as well as the nation and it would have a negative impact on the society. The PPP leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari termed the release of Shahbaz a good omen for democracy.

On their part, the top leadership of Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had welcomed the visit of Saudi crown prince.

The former prime minister Nawaz Sharif claimed the other day that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman had finalised the assistance package for Pakistan with him in his tenure. He was talking to party leaders, who met him in Kot Lakhpat jail Thursday. Nawaz claimed, “Talks for Saudi investment in Pakistan were finalised in the PML-N tenure and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman had agreed on a financial package with me. International matters take time to be settled.”

Nawaz alleged that the PTI government is re-launching the projects of PML-N and that Imran Khan’s party is also taking credit for the N-League’s health card initiative.