Opposition to be caged like pigeons: ministers

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Hussain Chaudhry Wednesday said that opposition would be locked in their cages like pigeons and after the end of their politics Pakistan would move ahead.

Flanked by federal ministers Asad Umar and Khusro Bakhtyar, he expressed these views while addressing a joint news conference. The minister contended, “We will stop the ongoing horse-trading by the opposition and will take action against those involved and we are ready to deal with any situation as these are the last days of opposition politics.

He said that PTI government would maintain the identity gained as a result of Pakistan's independent foreign policy. Fawad said that a historic meeting was going to be held on March 27 in D-Chowk, Islamabad.

The minister said, “They are upset with the announcement of our meeting. If they had such a weak heart, they should not have done such a thing. Politics is not a game of weak hearted people.”

Fawad said, “We condemn buying and selling of members and I would like to bring it in the notice of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that PMLN leader Mian Javed Latif admitted doing horse trading.

He said that it seemed that the ECP was not taking notice of PMLN activities while the PTI was being kept in the limelight and no action was being taken against the PMLN. Fawad dared PMLN and JUIF leaders to hold even a single public meeting like the ones addressed by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

They (opposition) had again announced that there would be a long march on March 25, he said, adding the long marches and public meetings could not be made successful while relying on the seminary students only.

“Show some courage and do a Jalsa like Imran Khan,” he said while referring to the prime minister’s ongoing massive public meetings, which were being thronged by the people voluntarily.

Fawad said, “I welcome the statement made by Pervaiz Elahi today (Wednesday). Besides, we hope that the mandate given by our other allies will continue and the government will complete its term.”

The minister pointed out that it was a happy occasion that Prime Minister Imran Khan's efforts against Islamophobia came to fruition and the United Nations decided to celebrate the day against Islamophobia. “I congratulate the Muslims of world Islam, especially the people of Pakistan,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister Asad Umar said that a historic public meeting would be held on March 27 in Islamabad. “The purpose of the committees is to mobilise the people for the historic meeting and to convey the message of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the people in all corners of Pakistan,” he maintained.

Asad Umar said that those who kept an eye on the politics of the country knew that the popularity of the prime minister had increased in the last two weeks. He said, “People like a brave and selfless leader who stands firm in front of the world and who can present the position of the country and does not do politics to win elections only and who also speaks for the independence and self-determination of its country and also fights the case of the nation.”

The minister said that these are the virtues of the prime minister for which people were connected with him and more and more people were coming closer to him, therefore a historic public meeting was going to be held in Islamabad on March 27.

Asad Umar said that the bubble of no-confidence motion would start to get flattened and people's attention had now been diverted from it and the game had now gone far beyond the issue of no-confidence motion.

To a question about the statements of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the minister said, “They are our allies but they have their own separate political party and identity, they also do their own individual politics, they also express their views and you may have read his statement today in which he said the same thing that every Pakistani believes that the prime minister is an honest leader and he stands with the government. Asad quoted Pervaiz Elahi saying that all decisions should be made in consultation with the allies. “They are right, we agree with what they have said today,” Asad said.

Federal Minister Khusro Bakhtyar said that he was excited to attend the public meeting on March 27 and a large number of people from South Punjab would reach D-Chowk. He noted that ideological differences among the opposition leaders had gone wide open.