Khawaja Asif sees no setback in by-poll results

Defence minister says process to appoint new army chief has yet to start

ISLAMABAD:

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Thursday neither the process to appoint the new chief of army staff had started nor he had any knowledge in this regard.

Addressing a press conference along with Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Asif said that revival of the economy was the priority of the government and all necessary steps would be taken to stabilise it.

Asif said that neutrality on the part of state institutions was a welcome sign because it had introduced a new tradition in the country of no interference in elections. It also meant, he added, the institutions were returning to their constitutional limits.

“Institutions are becoming neutral, it is very welcome. It is a good tradition for institutions to remain neutral. All institutions, including media, judiciary, establishment and executive are returning to the constitutional limits,” he said.

Responding to a question, the defence minister said that he had no knowledge of any process to appoint the new chief of army staff. “To my knowledge, there is no process, so far, for appointing the new army chief,” he said.

By-election

Asif, who is a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), stressed that the result of by-election on 20 constituencies in Punjab was not a setback for his party. He insisted that inflation was not a factor in the PML-N’s losses, rather local politics played a role.

“Our narrative is not affected in the by-election nor was the inflation the cause of defeat,” he insisted. In fact, the minister continued, in the 20 constituencies, there were seven candidates, where the PML-N even did not field its own party candidate.

“The excellent conduct of the by-elections is the fulfilment of the PML-N’s promise of holding transparent elections. The most transparent elections were held on July 17 under the administration of [Chief Minister] Hamza Shahbaz,” he said.

“This is the only election that no one can point finger at. We upheld the sanctity of the vote,” the defence minister told reporters. “In the recent Punjab by-elections, more votes were cast than the turnout in 2018 general elections.”

Commenting on election results, which gave the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) 15 seats and PML-N 4, while one was won by an independent, the minister said that these provincial assembly seats were previously held by the PTI and “now we have taken away five of them”.

He recalled the controversies surrounding the Daska by-polls, which were held during the PTI government. “Daska by-election is in front of everyone, how the election was made controversial,” he said. Before that the RTS [results transmission system] had crashed.”

“[PML-N Vice President] Maryam Nawaz ran a vigorous campaign in Punjab and created her own identity as a seasoned politician. The results did not weaken our position but strengthened it and that is our success. Our votes increased and seats were also taken away from the PTI.”

When asked about the election of the Punjab chief minister, due on Friday on the order of the Supreme Court, the senior PML-N leader avoided a direct answer, saying: “Let the election take place tomorrow [today].”

He added that PTI chief Imran Khan was sacrificing 178 lawmakers of his party by fielding Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi of the PML-Quaid as the candidate for the chief ministership. However, he added: “It was not me, but Imran Khan himself, who called Elahi the biggest robber.”

Asif fired a broadside against the former prime minister, saying that Imran violated the Constitution and added that the PTI was the first civilian government, which had been accused of flouting the Constitution.

“Previously, this type of allegations was levelled against military dictators but here the Supreme Court has said in its decision. The Supreme Court has made it the responsibility of parliament to take notice of this [violation of the Constitution].

He also criticised the PTI chairman for hurling allegations against state institutions. “For the past three and a half years, during his regime, Imran used state institutions against the opposition and now allegations are being made against those institutions.

“This is being said that the country will break up into three parts and the army will be destroyed. Statements like this must be avoided. Pakistan is everything to us. One may disagree with an individual but institutions should not be criticised.”

New NAB chief

Asif said that Imran used the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against rival politicians. “Both of us have suffered NAB,” he said, sitting next to Finance Minister Miftah Ismail. “We are sitting here today while on bail.”

Now, the government had appointed a new chairman of NAB, who had a spotless character and unblemished career, he said about the appointment of Aftab Sultan as the head of the graft buster. His entire career, whether in police or in IB [Intelligence Bureau], is spotless,” he added.

Inflation

The minister admitted that the middle-income people were the most affected by rising inflation and expressed the fear that this trend might push more people below the poverty line. However, he stressed that inflation was a global problem.

“I agree that the common man is the most affected by inflation. Inflation is affecting the middle class the most,” the minister told reporters. “All necessary steps will be taken to restore the economy,” he added.

“Our friendly countries are very kind to Pakistan. Our friendly countries want to invest in the energy sector of Pakistan,” he said adding that government-to-government agreements with the friendly countries were being worked out.

The minister also admitted that the size of the government was too big. “The smaller the size of the government, the better. We could ill-afford such a big government. Many institutions have been a burden on the national exchequer for many years,” he added.

Asif emphasised that the restoration of Pakistan’s economy was the top-most priority of the government. “No matter how many finance ministers the previous government changed, whatever we did in three months we did with sincerity. Voters will surely judge our actions.”