Erratic Maryam in the soup: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Tuesday billed the electoral success of JUI-Fazl as very unfortunate and said Pakistan will plunge deeper with the rise of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan or JUI-Fazl.

Briefing journalists about the federal cabinet meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, the minister said if a party like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) is an alternative to PTI, it means that the people of Pakistan and the people of PTI need to ponder seriously that PTI's absence would create a void on the national political scene.

This goes on to prove that the PTI is a national party, while the rest were merely "local parties". To a question, he said that the so-called rise of JUI in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has disappointed him personally as such parties were a symbol of a reactionary society and a sign that everything was not right in Pakistan. Dubbing JUI as an extremist party, he said that people who are against women's rights and freedoms and are in favor of religious violence is not a good omen for the society. Fawad said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam destroyed education and economy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2002.

Elaborating on PTI's defeat, he said that when three to four candidates from the same party start contesting against each other in a constituency, the elections will be naturally lost and the same has happened in the KPK. He said the PTI lost due to mismanagement and infighting but it has been proved once again that only the PTI is a nationwide party, the rest are local goups.

The minister cautioned that without Imran Khan, Pakistan's politics would lose its centre point, and dwarfs like Maryam Nawaz, PPP and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam would rise, which would only be harmful for the country and its polity. He said it is the duty of the PTI leadership and workers to put their petty interests behind and strengthen Imran Khan. "I only hope PTI workers and its leadership will learn from the situation and help themselves,” he contended.

Answering a question about ex-president Asif Ali Zardari’s statement that the formula makers are seeking solutions to national issues, the minister said that Asif Zardari's statement is reflective of his deep-rooted disappointment. It seems that Zardari has not able to strike a deal and had this been otherwise such things would not have been said in meetings. “It looks that the wishes of Zardari have not been fulfilled and now he is taking it out on the army. With the faintest of hope, they rush to polish their shoes. Without hope, the very next day their cry hoarse with despondency,” he remarked.

Fawad claimed similarly, the PML-N has realised that they have no status in the country's politics anymore, while PTI and Imran Khan are the only one hope for the country. About PMLN Vice President, Maryam Nawaz, Chaudhry Fawad said she had 'always helped the government' whenever it was down by issuing mindless, erratic statements. But Maryam is in trouble now because of her audio-tapes, where she was praising herself for media manipulation, he said.

Congratulating all the countries that participated in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) session here, the federal information minister said another OIC (regular) meeting would be held in March next year to focus and discuss the Kashmir issue. Responding to a flurry of questions as to why the Kashmir issue did not figure in the OIC meeting statement, the minister said the prime minister had talked about Kashmir but Kashmir is the focus of the OIC meeting in March. He noted that Pakistan's point of view was effectively conveyed in the OIC meeting and the cabinet congratulated all the participants.

Talking about other issues discussed in the cabinet, the minister said that at present all the economic indicators are positive and the overall situation is clearly stable. Fawad said in five years, the government would have to repay $55 billion loans collectively taken by Nawaz Sharif and Zardari regimes. He said that this year Pakistan has retired $12.27 billion loans whereas it would have to repay $12.5 billion next year.

He said that there are two types of expenses, one is that we ordered Covid-19 vaccine, which costs a lot due to which Pakistan is way ahead of other countries in vaccination. Moreover, he said the government had made payments of Rs134 billion to IPPs due to agreements signed during the tenure of Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif. They installed expensive plants on imported fuel, as a result of which electricity is expensive today and we also have to pay their capacity charges even when power is not needed. "An IPP can generate 100 MW of electricity but we have to pay for 100 MW of electricity even if we need 25 MW,” he noted. Due to this state of affairs, Pakistan is constantly losing money and it will reach its peak in 2023 when we have to pay a lot more.

He said that cotton yield is expected to be 8.5 million bales this year alongside 8.8 million tonnes of rice, which are the highest production in the country's history. The production of sugarcane production has also increased by 8.8 million tonnes. He added that there has been an improvement under the new auto policy and we will manufacture 500,000 vehicles. Fawad said in the last two years, the production of cars has increased and huge investment has been made by manufacturers.