Can give Nawaz travel document within 24hrs, says Rashid

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Wednesday that the government was ready to issue an “emergency travel document” to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif “within 24 hours” if he wished to return to Pakistan.

The minister made the offer in the backdrop of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s asking Sharif to return to Pakistan during a meeting of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) held a day earlier where the parties debated mass resignations from Parliament.

“Both the government and ministry of interior had never created any hurdle in passport renewal process of Nawaz Sharif, rather he himself did not bother to approach the authorities concerned,” he said in a press conference. However, Rashid said on February 16 that Sharif’s passport would not be renewed.

Rashid appreciated the PPP’s decision “to distance itself” from the PDM’s mass resignation move. He said fissures had developed within the ranks of the PML-N. “Whether they admit it or not, two factions in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz have emerged,” he added. To a query, he said the opposition had “failed to build its narrative” against the government as it faced defeat in the Senate despite resorting to public meetings during the last half year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The opposition should learn from its mistakes,” he said, while urging them to join the treasury benches in Parliament to introduce electoral reforms.