Govt Lambasts Back At Nawaz Sharif In Response To His APC Address

(@fidahassanain)

Govt lambasts back at Nawaz Sharif in response to his APC address

The PTI Ministers say that Nawaz Sharif by his statement has cast doubts over the fairness of 2018 general elections as the results were not in his favour.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Sept 21st, 2020) In response to PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif’s address to Opposition’s All Parties Conference (APC), the federal government hit back at him that he had cast doubts over the 2018 elections as the results were not in his favour.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Planning Asad Umar and Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhary held a joint-press conference to respond to Nawaz Sharif’s address at APC on Monday.

“Nawaz looked fit during his address,” said Minister for Information Shibli Faraz.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had decided that speeches of opposition leaders including Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto should be aired on tv.

Talking about the speech of JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, Faraz said that it was not the the government but the PPP which stopped his speech.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Nawaz Sharif made an attempt to malign the 2018 general elections, pointing out that Nawaz Sharif, however, remained the prime minister for three tenures and he never cast doubts on those elections.

“It is totally contrary to the facts what Nawaz Sharif had said in his yesterday speech,” said Shah Mahmood Qureshi, adding that 413 petitions were filed with the leectiioins commission after 2013 elections and this year there were 299 pleas.

“Of all those pleas, only 90 were against the National Assembly elections and several of those were PTI’s,” the minister stated. He also said that

Shibli Faraz said that PML_N lost elections and now Nawaz Sharif was casting doubts over the elections.

“But through such actions he is not helping Pakistan in anyway,” said the Federal Minister for Information.

“The members of the PML-N are present in the National Assembly and therefore they should demand electrical reforms,” he further said, pointing out that electoral reforms were done in their tenure.

“Why they didn’t overcome their shortcomings that time,” said the minister.

Asad Umar said that PM Imran had predicted in his first address that one day all the opposition parties would get united to protect their interests and that became true yesterday.

He stated that the opposition had thought that the PTI government would fall due to financial crisis the opposition parties had left when they were in power but the PTI government survived. He stated that the opposition leaders made speeches about ousting the government and that "some even came back to the country" to save it from "devastation".

He also presented the role of his government to combat Coronavirus, pointing out that the opposition did not discuss it during their speeches at APC. The Opposition, Umar said, was oppressed that they were not coming forward to get the related bills of FATF passed.

Addressing the press conference, Fawad Chaudhary lauded the information minister, stating that the sort of freedom that the media has today to cover the opposition, it was "never" given "before".

“In Nawaz's speech yesterday he said that the military and judiciary were in the wrong,” he said, adding that the PML-N supremo would be the first politician who would be asking the people to come out on the streets as he sits comfortably in his apartment in London.

“We are directed by the prime minister to resolve the problems identified by the judiciary,” he said, pointing out that the PTI-led government did not have anything against the judiciary, unlike PML-N.

Fawad Chaudhary said the only problem between the opposition and government was that the former wants them [PTI] to give relaxation in the cases against them.

Chaudhry stated he felt like Nawaz was going through some sickness or Alzheimer's. He also stated that he had forgotten how he became known in politics.

Nawaz had lost his first election as a councilor, he added.

Fida Hussnain

Fida Hussnain is a lahore based journalist. He writes on politics, religion, social issues and climate change. He is also a research fellow at University of Gujrat.