Political chaos: Rashid hits out at PTI, PAT for agitation

Says govt should be given time to consolidate short-term economic achievements

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Friday called for spending all energies for the achievement of national agenda of political and economic stability.

He said that there was need to give time to the government so that short-term economic achievements could be consolidated but one political party having only 35 members in the 342-member National Assembly wants to topple the government through a long march.

Another person, a Canadian national Tahirul Qadri, has been raising slogans of a so-called revolution, he said, adding that the ruling PML-N under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif has made every effort to promote politics of reconciliation and has shown respect for the mandate of other parties in the 2013 elections.

In an interview, the minister said the PML-N achieved clear majority at Centre and Punjab in the 2013 elections, while in other three provinces no political party could get clear majority. “But the PML-N allowed the single largest parties on provincial level to form governments in Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” he added.



“If the PML-N leadership wanted, the party could have formed governments in two other provinces too. But Nawaz Sharif, while respecting the mandate of other parties, allowed them to form governments,” said the minister. “The PML-N introduced the culture of tolerance by allowing rival political parties to form governments in the provinces where they had won more seats.”

To a question, Rashid said the government is fully focused on resolving the energy crisis and took steps to stabilise the fragile national economy.

Replying to a question about registration of cases against Tahirul Qadri, he said that the Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief was instigating his party workers to attack government offices and it was the state responsibility to ensure security of its citizens.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2014.