KARACHI: Home Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed Sunday said the government was fortunate to face incompetent opposition.
Speaking at a press conference here, he said democracy had won the Daska by-election. He said the by-election had indicated that the next general election in Punjab would be held between the PTI and PMLN.
“Only one wrestler must emerge victorious if two [wrestlers] go to the ring, “he said, responding to a question. He said the Daska by-election is a unique case, because for the first time in his life an electoral went to the polls twice in just 50 days.
He said the good thing was that Daska’s by-election was peaceful this time, as two people were killed in the previous poll. He praised the police service and Rangers for the complicated security arrangements during the vote.
He claimed that PTI emerged victorious even after losing the by-election, because it was a democratic victory. He said they had to accept the democratic verdict. He said the PTI candidate this time received more votes than the previous election.
Shaykh Rashid said Prime Minister Imran Khan is politically alive and there is no truth behind the rumors. The minister said the Swiss account case would be reopened at the direction of the Broadsheet inquiry commission.
He said the government used to provide 60 million dollars from the public treasury to investigate the case. The minister said the prime minister had made it clear that no talks would be held with India until Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was restored (to grant special autonomous status to Indian-controlled Kashmir).
He said the PM would go to Gilgit-Baltistan and announce a development package for the region. He said the prime minister is personally investigating the issue of price increases and the government will do its best to contain it in the month of Ramadan.
Sheikh Rasheed said Imran Khan had warned all mafia in the country whether they were linked to sugar, wheat flour, vegetable oil or the cotton business. He said the prime minister was fighting against all the elements responsible for rising prices.
He informed the media that the fencing on the Pakistan-Iran border has been completed 42 percent while the fencing on the Pak-Afghanistan border will be completed by June 30 this year. He said the position of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar was strong, because PM Imran Khan was on his back.
