Bilawal, Maryam ‘political infants’: Fawad

Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz should first contest the elections for the mayors of Karachi and Lahore, respectively, as they “lacked the political stature to become national leaders”. “The country cannot be handed over to political infants as they are incapable of ruling it,” he told reporters in Jhelum.

The minister was of the view that the alliance of all opposition parties of the country could not politically defeat Prime Minister Imran Khan. “All opposition parties including the PPP, PML-N, JUI-F and others faced defeat in Senate yesterday [Friday] where they had a majority,” Fawad said while referring to the passage of SBP Amendment Bill in the opposition-dominated upper house of parliament. “This is a great country and those who are presenting themselves to lead the country are dwarfs,” he remarked.

He urged Bilawal and Maryam to first work as common political activists in their own party ranks and allow the senior leaders to take the front seat. “We have a democracy and monarchy, so they both [Bilawal and Maryam] should vacate their positions for the senior leadership.” The minister claimed that a change was now being discussed within the PML-N as its activists wanted the replacement of the Sharif family.

He added that a similar debate should also take place within the PPP to bring experienced leaders to the top party slots. “If Bilawal and Maryam come up through the political process, then they have had the right [to lead], but there is no justification to impose them on senior party leaders.” He warned that there would be a “reckoning” from the State in the form of action against those responsible for spilling blood in recent terrorist attacks in Balochistan.

Ten soldiers embraced martyrdom after terrorists attacked a security forces’ check post in Balochistan’s Kech district on Wednesday. On Friday, three Levies Force personnel along with a Bugti clan elder were martyred and eight others injured in twin bomb blasts in the Sui area of Dera Bugti. Of the 10 soldiers martyred in the first attack, two of them belonged to Jhelum.

The minister maintained that there was a deep conspiracy was behind sabotaging the operations in Balochistan. He expressed solidarity with the families of those soldiers who had sacrificed their lives in Balochistan.  "We have retaliated before and will fully take action again and not one drop of blood of our children will be wasted. Bodies of young soldiers were felled here," he added.

“The conspiracies of its [country’s] enemies will not succeed. Rather, Pakistan will remain on the map of earth till eternity. We will continue the war against terrorism, the blood of our martyred soldiers will be fully accounted for.” Fawad claimed that the opposition parties had no value inside or outside parliament and all their efforts to launch a movement failed in the past. “Their seventh attempt would be no different.”

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He said the opposition had to rely on the students of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman's madrassas as it lacked public support. However, he added that was not possible to dislodge an elected government through agitation by students of seminaries. "We have no personal enmity with Maryam Nawaz and [PML-N supremo] Nawaz Sharif. We just want to bring back the wealth they looted from the people.”

The minister said that many people met Nawaz in expensive apartments but the latter still had the audacity to claim that apartments were not owned by him. Fawad claimed that Nawaz’s monthly expenses were tens of millions of rupees but nothing was disclosed about his source of income. He added that the British government had rejected Nawaz’s applications for visa extension twice and after realising the situation, the Sharif family had started saying that the former convicted premier was returning to Pakistan.

"Nawaz Sharif knows that he will not get another chance to stay in UK and he will have to come back.”
The minister said PM Imran’s upcoming visit to China would help strengthen economic ties with the friendly and time-tested country. He added that the premier would embark on more foreign visits in next few months. “They [foreign visits] would further strengthen Pakistan's international standing and its foreign policy would get a boost.”

(With input from agencies)