Bilawal on ‘Save Father’ mission: Fawad

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday said PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was out on the Save Father mission.

Addressing a media conference here at the Press Information Department (PID), he said after this mission, Bilawal would also have to start “Abbu Nikalo” (release father) movement. “It’s very unfortunate that when Asif Ali Zardari was being investigated for Rs5,000 billion alleged corruption, his son was threatening a train march,” the minister remarked.

To a question, Chaudhry said it was ironic that JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman and PPP leader Khursheed Shah were now worried about democracy and Pakistan. “Today, Fazl seems more worried about being away from Islamabad, and not Islam,” he added. Since 1988, Fazl for the first time has been out of parliament, he added.

Fawad opined that in the absence of Fazlur Rehman, parliament appeared even more peaceful and was working effectively. To another question, he said Bilawal Bhutto should also have seen Khursheed Shah's pictures with terrorists adding that nobody could be removed from his/her parliamentary office on the basis of mere pictures. He said Bilawal will have to change his narrative in this regard. He said the National Action Plan (NAP) had been initiated in 2014, and all political parties played their role in this regard.

He said the then PPP government had launched a successful operation against terrorists in Swat, while the PML-N government achieved success in North and South Waziristan under the NAP, and the incumbent PTI government was removing lacunae in the plan. He said the NAP was not a political issue but an issue of the writ of the state, and it was equally beneficial for all political parties. Responding to the reporters’ queries, the minister said the opposition parties were free to lodge their protest; however, no one would be allowed to take the law into their own hands by throwing stones at policemen and media persons and ransacking public and private properties under the garb of protest demonstrations.

“The PTI government did not impose the Anti-Terrorism Act on the detained workers of opposition parties,” he said and recalled that the past governments had imposed this act on the PTI workers and even its chairman during the party's sit-in in Islamabad.

To a question, Fawad said the PTI government faced no political challenge from both Bilawal Bhutto and Maryam Nawaz, as PM Imran Khan was not being seen as Pakistan's leader only, but also the leader of Muslim Ummah by the world because he was consulted on the issues of various Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, the UAE and Afghanistan.

He said Imran Khan had not only highlighted the importance of Pakistan, but also proved its worth to the world. Citing an example, he said within a few months, three Muslim leaders, including Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE and Muhammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia visited Pakistan, while Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey would soon come here. In the past, he said, there was no such example of visits of world leaders to Pakistan in a short span of time.

Instead of enjoying and relying on their fathers’ ill-gotten wealth, he advised both Bilawal and Maryam to get employed somewhere for six months so that they could realise the life of the common man.

To a query, he said the PTI government was in contact with the Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif and parliamentary leaders of other parties regarding the appointment of members of the Election Commission of Pakistan.