Rashid advises PML-N to play it safe

Says PM lucky to have ‘incompetent opposition’

ISLAMABAD:

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Monday forewarned the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership against slandering the country’s institutions publicly, terming such comments a ‘dangerous game to get petty political gains’.

 “Defeat was their [PML-N’s] fate which they would meet in future as well. They are doing all this as they aspire to wrest back power,” Rashid told a press conference.

Unfortunately, he alleged that the PML-N was trying to malign state institutions for petty political gains but it would fail to do so.

He advised the PML-N leadership to stop defaming the country’s “respectable institutions” in public or using inappropriate language. “By discussing the country’s institutions at public places, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz is ‘digging her political grave’,” he reiterated.

The interior minister claimed that the incumbent opposition had no vision to understand the prevailing regional situation and they had selected the wrong time for holding rallies and protests. He reiterated that the incumbent government would complete its five-year term and expressed his confidence that the PTI government would also return for the next tenure.

“The incumbent government has secured Pakistan from default and sanctions due to the effective policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” Rashid said, adding that opposition parties were in a state of “disappointment and stress” as against their wishes, the present government was successfully running the state affairs.

Rashid said: “The opposition has been saying since December last year that the PTI is going to lose power, but it should clear any misunderstanding about the government. Prime Minister Imran Khan is so lucky to have got such incompetent and ineffective opposition.”

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He was of the view that the inflation issue was connected with the changing international economic situation as no one in the government wants inflation in the country. The government was taking sincere steps to control inflation and making a change in the life of the common man, he added.

He also spoke about the visa service and the federal capital’s security.

“On-arrival visas for Afghanistan have been stopped as an online visa service has been started for Afghanistan to address all related issues and making this process more transparent and smooth,” Rashid said, adding that the government had decided to waive off the visa fee.

In order to ensure foolproof security and controlling the crime rate, the minister said as many as 1,000 additional personnel were being inducted in Islamabad police. Moreover, he added the government was going to launch its new air patrolling unit form next Friday.

 For the first time in the history of Pakistan, he said the government had started the International Border Management System (IBMS) at the Torkham and Chaman borders. Further points will be added also, he added.

“With this, the government will use modern technology to get exact data and for maintaining complete records of all entry and exit movements at the Pakistan-Afghan border,” Rashid said.

He added that the borders of Torkham and Chaman had been placed on the biometric system now, while the remaining borders would also be added to the system.

The minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to inaugurate a new 150-bed hospital in the federal capital.