Boot drama forces PM Imran to slap Vawda with two-week TV ban

Premier also seeks explanation from federal minister, says Firdous Ashiq Awan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday sought an explanation from Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda for recently displaying a ‘military boot’ on a TV talk show.

In a tweet from her official handle, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the premier had also barred the minister from appearing in TV talk shows for two weeks.

وزیراعظم عمران خان نے وفاقی وزیر فیصل واوڈا سے نجی ٹی وی کے ٹاک شو میں ان کے رویے پر وضاحت طلب کر لی۔وزیراعظم نے فیصل واڈا کی کسی بھی ٹاک شو پر آئندہ دو ہفتوں کیلئے شرکت پر پابندی عائد کردی ہے۔

— Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan (@Dr_FirdousAwan) January 16, 2020

The move comes hours after the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) banned the broadcast of ‘Off The Record’ on ARY News for 60 days after the federal minister brandished a military boot on the live show to ridicule the opposition parties, particularly the PML-N for “unconditionally” supporting the passage of three legislative bills on the tenure of the services chiefs.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Federal Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry distanced the PTI from Vawda’s actions on the show.

“What he [Faisal Vawda] did does not reflect the party’s policy,” he clarified.

“The opposition parties displayed maturity by voting for the amendments to the Army Act and praise them for that,” he added.
Fawad further said the army belonged to all Pakistanis. “The army does not belong to the PTI only. It is also the opposition parties’ army.”

Appearing on the TV show alongside PML-N Senator Javed Abbasi and PPP senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday, the PTI minister surprisingly pulled out a boot and placed it on the desk in front of him trying to make a point that the PML-N had “changed its political narrative” and now it sought “respect for boot instead of its slogan of respect for vote.”

😲😲🧐🧐🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/wJnXtm2Osw

— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) January 14, 2020

“From now on, I will bring this [boot] in every talk show… this shows how democratic the PML-N really is … they now honour the boot by lying and licking [it],” said the firebrand politician, who is known for making provocative remarks against his opponents.

The PTI leader further claimed that the PML-N stood exposed before the masses as it “ditched” the public after its leaders including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and party president Shehbaz Sharif “escaped to London in the guise of medical treatment.”

“Maryam Nawaz and Nawaz Sharif should tell their supporters loud and clear that they have stooped so low that they would respect the boot to save themselves from accountability and corruption charges.”
Incensed by Vawda’s act, Abbasi and Kaira left the show in protest.

Speaking about the incident, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah had said the PTI minister had actually mocked the army as an institution by resorting to such a despicable stunt.

“What point is he [Vawda] trying to make? That the army is involved in all this [the passage of the services chiefs’ tenure bills]?” the PML-N leader added.