Govt welcomes PPP decision to contest Senate elections

PESHAWAR:

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has welcomed the Pakistan Peoples Party’s decision reached during a recently held Central Executive Committee meeting to take part in the Senate elections and by-polls, expressing hope that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would also follow suit.

Addressing a news conference at a local hotel after winding up his two-day visit to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the merged tribal districts as interior minister on Friday, Rashid said, “The Pakistan Democratic Movement [an 11-party opposition alliance formed to oust the ruling PTI] is out to create political chaos and instability in the country besides pushing JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman into a blind alley.”

He said Maulana Fazl has currently no role in politics as his policies were already rejected by the masses in the 2018 general election.

"Politics has always room for dialogue and mature politicians never reach the point of no return." He said the government would adopt a strategy according to scenarios developed in the wake of the PDM decisions.

“Problems in a democratic system are addressed through dialogue,” Rashid said, expressing hope that the PDM would sit together with the government for resolution of their problems within the ambit of the Constitution.

On PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, the interior minister said the government would not renew the diplomatic passport of Sharif, which was going to expire on February 16 and it would be considered as cancelled.

Rashid said currently Pakistan had no extradition treaty with Britain under which Sharif could be brought back. “However, efforts are under way on all fronts to bring him back to face corruption cases.”

The minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan was fighting against the scourge of corruption and no compromise would be made with corrupt elements.

The interior minister said the government has launched an online visa system for 191 countries in line with the vision of Premier Imran to make visa process easy for the people.

As a result, he said, manual visa system has ceased to exist from today, adding that the online visa system would help in eradicating the menace of corruption and ensuring transparency besides addressing complaints of people, especially with regard to China and Afghanistan.

He said on the first day, the online system had received about 200,000 applications for visa.

The interior minister said that 528 non-governmental organisations were working in Pakistan. “Action will be taken against those NGOs which are found involved in politics.”

On security of minorities, he said protection of holy places of minorities and their leadership was the top priority of the government as K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has been directed to take strong notice of the unfortunate Karak incident.

“Protection of worship places of minorities and their leadership is the constitutional and legal obligation of the government and no one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands.”

The interior minister said such incidents were not acceptable in the PM Imran-led government and reiterated that strict action would be taken against those who were responsible.

Rashid said the use of indecent language against armed forces of Pakistan would not be tolerated and the case of JUI-F leader Mufti Kifayatullah has been sent to the K-P government for necessary action, adding that the law would take its own course whosoever uses un-parliamentary language against the country's armed forces.

(With input from APP)