Will employ all tactics for Sanjrani’s win, says Shibli

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz Tuesday said the government would do whatever is required to win the election of Senate chairman.

Speaking in Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ the minister said no change is under consideration in Punjab on chief minister level or any other administrative level. He said no formal offer has been made to Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri for the post of Senate deputy chairman, and neither it is possible. He said the JUI-F is just raising the matter to gain importance.

“Abdul Ghafoor Haideri came to meet us and we informally discussed these things while having food in the library,” he said, adding that the government also goes to opposition senators for seeking votes in the Senate elections.

To a question of Shahzeb Khanzada whether the Senate chairman would be elected by seeking votes, using power or using money, Shibli Faraz said the opposition always violates rules and uses money.

“We are ready this time. It can’t happen that we play Sharif Sharif and do everything according to law. We would do everything necessary for winning,” Shibli said, adding that it is not possible that the government remains unmoved, while the opposition uses every tactic for its benefit, which was witnessed in the Senate elections.

He said the government would not play ‘nicely’ and would make every effort for the success of its candidate. “It’s not happening that the opposition is allowed to even touch the ball in a football game with hand, while the government just plays with foot. Love begets love and vice versa,” he said.

The minister said videos are surfacing about what the opposition did in Senate elections. He made it clear that he was not talking about using money in Senate election. Shibli Faraz said Shaikh Rashid is an ally of the government and he can talk on government’s behalf. He said the prime minister had told the opposition that open ballot would be in their favour otherwise they would cry foul. He said the target of the government is to win the election of Senate chairman for which it needs two additional votes.

Meanwhile, in tweets, Shibli Faraz said both Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Maryam Nawaz were taking the “best revenge” from democracy, trying to buy people's conscience with money and then they hide behind democracy.

The minister said that those who took over the parties should have joined the party as workers if they were so qualified and deserving. “Hereditary politicians seek to impose their children on the nation. People would not be deceived by them while they wanted this business of looting to continue like this,” he said.

“The nation has to decide whether to end this franchise of corruption or keep them licensed to return,” he emphasised. The minister said that if former prime minister Nawaz Sharif believed in the dignity of the vote, he would have been in Pakistan: Maulana Fazlur Rehman was preparing his son for a political role in hereditary politics.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has become the biggest obstacle in the way of looters and hereditary politicians.