Opposition leaders 'not fit' to attend royal banquet: Fawad

Information minister says main opposition leaders either in jail or out on bail

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said opposition parties were snubbed for the Saudi crown prince's banquet as their leaders are either in jail or out on bail.

Yesterday, the government had decided not to invite opposition leaders at the official banquet to be hosted for Prince Mohammad bin Salman at the Prime Minister House on February 17.

Chaudhry spoke out on Twitter, saying that,"How can we invite them [opposition leaders] to the event, their main leaders are either behind bars or out on bail."



The federal minister added that none of their leaders are "of the stature to attend such an event."

اپوزیشن رہنماؤں کو عشائیے پر کیا بلائیں ان کے مرکزی رہنما بدعنوانی کے مقدموں میں یاجیل ہیں یا ضمانتوں پر ہیں یا شامل تفتیش ہیں جو باقی ہیں وہ اس قد کے ہی نہیں ، انھیں بلانا نہ بلانا برابر ہے۔۔۔ سنجیدہ اپوزیشن کا نہ ہونا ایک سیاسی بحران ہے آگے جا کے کوئ نئ لیڈرشپ ابھرے تو ابھرے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) February 16, 2019

Chaudhry said there is a dearth of a real opposition in Pakistan which is detrimental to the country's politics.

Opposition leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari have not been invited to the dinner.

The move, the sources said, has been taken owing to poor relations between the government and the opposition, as well as pending inquiries against the PTI government's political rivals.