Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Sunday used cricketing terms and said Imran Khan wanted to win the final without qualifying the quarterfinals and that too with his own referee.
He was talking to office bearers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) youth Wing. He said Imran knew that his team’s performance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), where the PTI rules, was disastrous”.
He said television cameras and screens provided an ample proof that no one had created any hurdle in the PTI rally. “Had the administration created any hurdle, it could not have escaped the cameras,” he added.
Referring to PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) protests, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said politicians who were launching protest campaigns were involved in ‘ball tempering’ and were hampering the process of national progress and development.
“Khan Sahib, this is not cricket but politics and ball tempering is not allowed”, Shahbaz quizzed. He challenged imran Khan that he would quit politics if single penny corruption was proved against him. He was addressing a Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) seminar in Lahore.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said parliament was the best forum to resolve all important issues. He claimed that the PTI could not attract people, ‘which was evident from the number of participants in its rally’.
He said the PTI had failed to show strength in the rally, adding that not a single person was reported to be stopped in anywhere in Punjab.
Meanwhile Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali urged the PTI to come forward and help reform the system, adding that a proper platform of parliament was available which must be utilised for bringing reforms in any institution.
“There was no need to hold public meetings. Parliament was a right place to discuss the issues, He added.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2014.