Govt to move Supreme Court against Vawda’s disqualification: Sh Rasheed

Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said on Wednesday that the government would challenge the lifelong disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Vawda by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the Supreme Court (SC), reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

Prophesying that the next 50 days were important for the country’s politics, the interior minister expressed the optimism that at the end of the day Prime Minister Imran Khan would emerge ‘victorious’.

Taunting the opposition parties for awaiting the signal of ‘establishment’ so that they could sneak into the corridors of power, he made it clear to them that their efforts to win its support would not produce the desired results since it (the establishment) stood behind the PTI government. 

He said that the opposition parties had become so desperate that now they were knocking at the doors of the parties, part of the coalition at Center, to oust the government. “You are reaching out to our allies to complete your numbers in order to bring about a no-trust move against us. For God’s sake, don’t approach them; first make sure that your own party members stand by you,”  he said, and dared these parties to table a no-confidence move in the National Assembly if really there was a substance in their claim that they enjoyed the support of the majority of members of parliament (MPs). “Truth of the matter is that all your claims are hollow; devoid of truth,” he added. 

He further said he did not see the opposition marching on Islamabad on March 23. 

The minister was of the view that both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) did different types of politics. 

Regarding Prime Minister Imran Khan’s yesterday’s (Tuesday, February 8) announcement at Naushki (Balochistan) to raise the salaries of Frontier Constabulary (FC), Coast Guards, Gilgit Baltistan Scouts and Rangers by 15 percent, Rasheed said the decision would take effect from March. “It was the interior ministry’s demand which the prime minister has met,” he explained. 

He added that yesterday while coming back from Naushki, he had requested PM Imran to also increase the salaries of other government employees.

Reporter Owais Kiani