TLP pact to be made public soon: Rashid

Minister says opposition’s anti-inflation rallies not a threat to govt

ISLAMABAD:

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Saturday said the clauses of the government's agreement with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which had recently been de-proscribed, would hopefully be made public very soon.

“It [the agreement] will come out within seven to 10 days,” he told reporters in Islamabad.

The minister said a timeframe had been set for the announcement of the details of the pact.

“Whatever is in that agreement will be known to the people in a few days," he added.

"I was part of the first round of talks on the wishes of [TLP chief] Saad Rizvi."

He said the Centre had revoked the TLP's proscribed status on the recommendation of the Punjab government.

Read more: TLP chief Saad Rizvi's name 'deleted' from Fourth Schedule

The government had announced on October 31 that it had reached an agreement with the TLP after almost two weeks of clashes that left at least seven policemen dead and several injured on both sides.

While making the announcement, Mufti Muneeb, the former Ruet-e-Hilal Committee chairman who played the role of a mediator, said the details of the agreement would be disclosed at an “appropriate time”.

Rashid further said the government faced no threat from the opposition’s anti-inflation protest rallies and it would complete its tenure.

“It will take the PDM [opposition alliance] six month to just warm up a protest movement,” he maintained.

“The real time of sit-in was when JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman came to Islamabad. Now they [opposition parties] will only humiliate themselves.”

The minister said the opposition had been saying since last year that PTI was going to lose power.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan is lucky to have received such an incompetent and ineffective opposition."

He further said the opposition was running its election campaign under the guise of the movement. “It is the right of the opposition to hold rallies but my only complaint is that they started too late. Now this is an election campaign.”

Also read: Punjab govt to withdraw cases against TLP chief

The minister claimed that the coalition partners were not going anywhere.

“Whenever there is an issue, people place their demands and something has to be done to meet them.”

Replying to a query, the minister said PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and Fawad Hassan Fawad, the former principal secretary to then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, were already on the Exit Control List (ECL). Both men are accused of misuse of authority and amassing wealth beyond known sources of income in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal housing scheme.

“Neither of them has applied for their name to be removed from the ECL and NAB [National Accountability Bureau] has also sent another case two weeks ago.”

Rashid said the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan would also have an effect on Pakistan.

“It is not possible for 40 million people to be hungry and starving in a neighbouring and its effects will not be on Pakistan. The country's economy is going through a big test. Our only problem is inflation.”

The minister said the government was taking sincere steps to control inflation and making a change in the life of the common man.

He directed the police officials of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to boost the morale of their subordinates.

“Efforts are also being made to include additional 1,000 policemen in the Islamabad police.”

 He added that ICT police had recently launched its air patrolling unit equipped with state-of-the-art 14 drones, besides having a 130 personnel-based Shaheen Squad.

He said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed with the Punjab government for the start of '1122 service' in the federal capital initially with 20 vehicles.

The minister further said the government was planning to allow the construction of high-rise buildings in the federal capital. “High-rise cranes will be purchased for this purpose.”

With input from APP