Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Saturday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would sweep the election in the Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) as its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has no political future.
He was talking to the media after inaugurating the succession certificate kiosk here at National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Mega Centre on Edgerton Road.
Rashid said that after elections in AJK, he would announce the victory of PTI at Laal Haveli on Sunday at 7 pm. He said the PTI would form government in AJK, and “then you will hear the wailing of the opposition parties”.
They have started “illogical” hue and cry for the protection of the ballot boxes, though the personnel of FC and Rangers have been deployed there, and army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has assured the opposition parties that the army troops would also be there, the minister claimed.
According to the minister, “PPP will manage to secure one more seat than the PML-N. Maryam Nawaz’s language would destroy her politics”, he added.
To a question, the interior minister said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was also complaining — while sitting in London — that he was in “great trouble”. Rashid said Nawaz himself brought this upon himself. “If you (Nawaz Sharif) announce your return to the country in the morning, I will send you a chartered plane in the same evening with full security of your choice. I want you to come back in good health, as it will be better for everyone,” he told the PML-N supreme leader.
He said that the PML-N had no political future and Nawaz Sharif’s irresponsible statements would sink his party soon.
He recalled that Nawaz Sharif had “always showed great love and affection” for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so on what ground was he making tall claims of being a Kashmiri. He said such statements were hurting the sentiments of the people of Kashmir.
Contrary to this, he said, Prime Minister Imran Khan had very effectively highlighted the Kashmir issue at every international forum, asserting that Pakistan would continue with its diplomatic, political and moral support to Kashmiris’ struggle for their right to self-determination.
He advised the opposition parties to focus on the next general election campaign saying that if election campaign in AJK has taken more than four months, then the campaign for general elections would need a lot more time for canvassing.
About Shehbaz Sharif, he remarked that he was afraid of his elder brother and his politics was now contained only to pay condolences or extend felicitations. To another question, he said that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman had remained chairman of the Kashmir Committee for long, but he showed very poor performance on that front.
Regarding the Afghan ambassador’s daughter issue, he said that it was not kidnapping but an incident of missing or lost, and the Afghan government was also taken on board in that regard.
To a query, he said that 96 per cent fencing along the Pak-Afghan border had been completed and this year, it would be completed 100 per cent. The fencing along the Pak-Iran border was completed 46 per cent, he said.
Rashid said the Pak-China friendship was ever-lasting and work on the Dasu Dam project would soon be restored. The work on Dasu Dam had been suspended after nine Chinese died in a bus blast in the Upper Kohistan area. “Pakistan will have surplus electricity with the completion of Diamer-Basha Dam,” he responded to a reporter’s query.
The prime minister would change the country’s economic scenario within next six months, he said and asserted that Imran Khan had proved himself as a “great leader by saying ‘absolutely not’ to the United States”.
