PM believes in rule of law, respects judiciary: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Wednesday said that by appearing in the Supreme Court of Pakistan on a short notice once again, it was proved that Prime Minister Imran Khan believes in the rule of law and the Constitution and respects the judiciary.

He was talking to media persons outside the Supreme Court here. He was flanked by Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Fawad noted Imran Khan complied with the court order as the enforcement of the rule of law and Constitution is an important part of the PTI manifesto.

The court, he explained, has directed that those who have moral responsibilities for the APS tragedy should be determined. He added that as directed by the Supreme Court, a report will be submitted to the Supreme Court in four weeks.

He emphasized all national institutions including administration and judiciary have to fulfill their responsibilities. On the soul-shaking APS tragedy, Fawad said every citizen of Pakistan was saddened by the tragic incident and that the PMLN was in power at that time and it would have been very easy for the present government to blame the previous government but it did not do so.

All political parties of Pakistan, he emphasized, put aside their differences and came up with the National Action Plan after this tragedy and the whole nation stood behind the National Action Plan to eliminate terrorism.

He said the intelligence failure also happened in the US at the time of the 9/11 incident as seven bombers stayed in a hotel in front of the White House for three months and no one had any clue.

The minister contended that steps were taken after intelligence failure in the APS tragedy, and terrorism was eradicated from Pakistan successfully. He explained: “After the National Action Plan, our lives have returned to normalcy today, for which the Pakistan Army and security agencies have made immense sacrifices.” Fawad said the credit also went to the political leadership of the country, which created consensus on the issue in the parliament. He said the credit went to the Interior Ministry, intelligence agencies, Pakistan army and ISI for brilliantly implementing far-sighted decisions of Pakistan’s political leadership.

The minister continued that even today the same National Action Plan is being carried forward and added that three years of the PTI are the most peaceful years in the recent history of Pakistan, thanks to the consensus created through the NAP. He said that the government fought the corona pandemic and tackled the challenges of the economy.

Speaking on the Afghanistan, he noted the situation that emerged in Afghanistan following the sudden fall of Kabul in August would have destabilised any other neighbouring country.