Nawaz cross with institutions, not individuals: Asad

Ag APP *** Sabah

KARACHI/MULTAN: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, while slamming PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, said on Sunday the former premier had issues with institutions and not individuals, Geo News reported.

The federal minister was responding to Nawaz Sharif’s speech delivered at the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s Gujranwala rally. Addressing a news conference in Karachi along with federal minister Ali Zaidi, he said: “Mian Sahib, your threats won’t work now. The time for questions has passed, and now you have to answer.”

The minister, criticising Sharif, said: “India’s narrative will not sell anymore”. “If you are truly brave, why couldn’t you speak about [Indian spy] Kulbhushan Jadhav [...] Why don’t you lash out at India?” he asked.

Umar said the PML-N supremo had started talking about democracy after he “saw failure” everywhere else. He asked Sharif why he sent his envoys for meetings, adding Shahbaz Sharif and other PML-N leaders were asking for an NRO.

Slamming Sharif for directing questions at certain individuals in his address at the Gujranwala power show, Umar said: “You [Nawaz] are an indicted criminal, you do not get to ask questions.”

About Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech to the Tiger Force where he mentioned Maryam Nawaz, Umar said: “Nani [grandmother] is a relationship of immense respect; has the prime minister said anything wrong?”

Taking over the presser, Ali Zaidi said a “new Imran Khan” had now emerged, after the opposition’s recent tactics. The minister urged the opposition parties to not drag institutions into their political speeches. Zaidi also criticised Capt (retd) Safdar for chanting slogans in the presence of Maryam at Mazar-e-Quaid, saying: “He should apologise for such an act.” Those “criminals” had “violated the sanctity of Mazar-e-Quaid”, he added. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday the coalition of opposition parties would not last longer because all those parties had different political interests, ideologies, manifestos and flags.

Addressing a press conference in Multan, Qureshi said the people “rejected” the Gujranwala public meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). “PDM is negative, temporary and unnatural alliance,” he said, adding the different leaders had gathered at one platform due to fear of cases and ultimately to escape from accountability process.

“The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has not registered any case against these parties…The cases against opposition parties got registered by themselves,” he said. “The PTI came to power after public mandate and the opposition parties are unable to digest people’s decision in favour of the PTI,” he remarked.

He went on to say that the opponent always took Prime Minister Imran Khan easy. The heavy weight politicians used to say that Khan did not understand politics and that was why he could not succeed, the minister said and added Khan striven hard and his ideology became gradually popular at grassroots level.

“The people are now politically mature and they understand everything. The masses do not hold the PTI alone responsible for inflation in the country. The people understand that inflation is due to ill conceived policies of previous governments,” he said.

Qureshi also said not even a single political worker was being arrested by the government, adding the government gave free-hand to the opposition for holding public meetings.

“The PTI strongly believes in democracy. The opposition is making baseless allegations of workers’ arrest in order to get political sympathy. However, Punjab government has not arrested any worker,” he said. Separately, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said on Sunday the opposition alliance of PDM was only busy in holding shows which had no direction and no plan.

In a tweet, Faraz said they share identical stance and ideologies, besides personal damages.

The minister went on to say that the opposition had no concern with the people and they should now ask PDM President and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to address the crowd first at their Karachi rally as empty chairs will create ridiculous situation.