Islamabad (Web Desk): The government has asked the opposition parties to refrain from 'dragging' national institution into politics.
Addressing at a joint news conference in Islamabad on Monday, along with Information Minister Shibli Faraz, Planning Minister Asad Umar and Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said yesterday's conference of the opposition reflected their desperation for not getting any concession or National Reconciliation Ordinance from the government.
He rejected opposition's objections on foreign policy of the country saying that the entire world is acknowledging Pakistan's role as facilitator in the Afghan Peace Process.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said it is a great achievement that now intra-Afghan negotiations have begun for lasting peace in the country.
Regarding Kashmir issue, the foreign Minister said Prime Minister has vociferously raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at the UN General Assembly, Organization of Islamic Countries, world human rights bodies and other global forums.
He said it seems strange that on the one hand, the opposition is criticizing government's Kashmir policy; while on the other hand, they had supported government to get passed resolutions on Kashmir unanimously from the parliament.
Refuting opposition's claim that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is being rolled back, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said all the projects of CPEC are rolling on and will be completed within the stipulated time period.
Information Minister Shibli Faraz said Nawaz in his speech yesterday had raised suspicions about the election process because his party was unable to garner votes in the 2018 elections and because he is "not used to a free and fair election".
Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar said the Army as an institution was brazenly attacked in the APC, which the Indian media
“India is saying that Nawaz Sharif has made a political comeback by attacking Pak Army,” he said.
The minister said that the FATF legislation has nothing to do with any political party, but the opposition still tried to leverage it in its favour.
Speaking on this occasion, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that the main takeaway from the APC was that if the judiciary and the army do not stand by us, then there is none worse than them.
“Nawaz Sharif asks public to take to the streets while he himself sits in a Mayfair apartment,” the minister said. He admitted that letting the PML-N leader leave Pakistan was a mistake on the government’s part.
Chaudhry said that Hussain Haqqani leads the pro-India clique sitting in the United States and Nawaz Sharif’s speech plays into their agenda.
This is pertinent to mention here that the opposition parties on Sunday formed a new alliance named Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to oust the PTI-led government.
The eight-hour-long PPP-hosted multi-party conference (MPC) which was also addressed by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari through video link.
The opposition leaders announced that they would use all political and democratic options, including no-confidence motions and en mass resignations from parliament, to seek “the selected prime minister’s resignation and an end to the role of the establishment in politics”.
After the meeting, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman along with PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif and vice president Maryam Nawaz, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and other prominent opposition leaders presented a detailed “action plan” before the media.