From Abid Usman
LAHORE: Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday called out the opposition again calling them “dead and tired”, saying that it was in no position to start any movement against the government.
“The opposition has so far been unable to organise their All Parties Conference (APC) and with Muharram going on it would be impossible to hold it,” Rashid briefed the media at the Railways Headquarters on Saturday.
The railways minister further criticised the opposition saying that the (Shehbaz Sharif and Maulana Fazl) do not trust each other.
“Fazl wants a written statement from PML-N and PPP, but the PML-N will never give him anything in writing,” Rashid said.
He added, “Shehbaz Sharif will make speeches but will never give anything in writing.” “I assure you that no matter what Maulana [Fazl] does, he will not be able get what he wants from PPP and PML-N, the railways minister said. “Both the parties are in search of an NRO, but I can tell you Imran Khan will never give them an NRO,” he restated.
Commenting on Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan, Rashid said that it will not be an easy task as they could not even bring Ishaq Dar and Suleman Shehbaz back to the country. “We are trying to bring him [Nawaz] back so he could face his trial,” Rashid added. He added that, under the leadership of Imran Khan, the government will complete its constitutional tenure and that the opposition is not in any position to start a movement against the government.
Meanwhile, Contacts have been established between the incumbent federal government and Pakistan People’s Party as the latter’s Qamar Zaman Kaira met with the Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad on Saturday. The meeting between the two was held at the Railways Headquarters in Lahore. According to sources, issues pertaining to the political situation in the country were discussed during the meeting between Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad and the Qamar Zaman Kaira.
According to details, the meeting between the two sides came after Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) President Asif Ali Zardari on August 16 said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had always stabbed him in the back.
Addressing a PPP’s central executive committee (CEC) meeting, Asif Ali Zardari said that the PPP always supported PML-N but in response, the party always cheated him and his party.
He maintained that they will call a separate all parties conference (APC) if PML-N backtracked on his stance, said sources. Zardari said that PPP believed in democracy, adding that they will face conspiracies bravely.
Cracks had started to appear between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaderships after the latter showed no interest in mounting pressure on the incumbent federal government.
According to sources, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had left Lahore after a week-long visit and during the stay, several attempts were made to make contact with the PML-N leadership. “The PML-N leadership did not give a satisfactory response to the approaches made by the PPP,” they had said.
