BEIJING, Feb 05 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Saturday took a dig at the leaders of two main opposition parties for their get together at Model Town, Lahore and said ‘gang of criminals’ once again got untied to prevent retrieval of the looted money from abroad.
“It has been observed that they (opposition leaders) always get untied whenever there is seriousness in their cases and efforts are accelerated to bring back their ill-gotten money stashed in foreign countries,” he said while talking to media.
He said ironically ‘criminals of Pakistan’ gathered at Model Town to express solidarity with each other on the day when the entire nation was observing the ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’. “We have repeatedly stated that it is the gang of criminals which only united in Pakistan when we make efforts to curb their crimes and bring their wealth back to the country from abroad.”
As regards the luncheon meeting hosted by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif for the party senior leaders and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Fawad said such actions did not bother the government in the past and would not cause any trouble in the future.
Slamming the PML-N President and PPP leaders for having no ‘self respect’, he said the old adversaries had reconciled once again due to their grudge against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Taking a jibe at Maulana Fazlur Rehman for his absence from the luncheon, he said the PPP leaders should have taken the Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief along so that the nation could watch the drama ‘Hum Chaay’ (we are six) instead of ‘Hum Panch’ (We are five).
He said the meeting of opposition leaders earlier in the day was result of the ‘humiliating defeat’ faced by them in Senate the other day. The opposition would be facing more such defeats in future, he added.
Referring to the multiparty opposition alliance—Pakistan Democratic Movement, he said it had been observed that the desperation of ‘Dheeli Dhaali Movement’ had been worsening with each passing day.
He said the leaders of the parties to the alliance were losing their patience as they foresaw their defeat in the next general election.
They were now getting united just to prevent defeat in the next general election, he said, adding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would again emerge victorious against the united opposition as in the past.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan is the most popular leader of Pakistan,” he said, adding the PTI was the only party of Federation in the country.
He said other than the PTI, all other political parties were regional ones as the PML-N relegated to Central Punjab, while the PPP only limited to interior Sindh.
Divulging details of the prime minister’s visit to China, he said PM Imran Khan had spent a ‘busy day’ there as he first attended the banquet lunch hosted by President Xi Jinping in honour of visiting heads of states and later held bilateral meetings with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Kashmir and Afghanistan was the mainstay of discussion in both the meetings, he added.
He said the Chinese Premier had once again assured that his country stood by Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and supported its stance.
Likewise, PM Imran Khan assured China full of his country’s support on matters pertaining to Hong Kong and Taiwan, he added.
Fawad said China, as a political, economic and strategic partner, had always played a critical role and always stood by Pakistan as ‘Iron brother’.
A meeting would be held between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Xi Jinping on Sunday, he said, adding Pakistan-China relations and matters pertaining to Afghanistan and other international affairs would come under discussion.
He said PM Imran was scheduled to return home on Sunday after his meeting with the Chinese President.
The minister said details of billions of dollars investments committed to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Project during the prime minister’s visit had been shared. Further details would be shared shortly, he added.
