Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Wednesday said fresh elections are the only way forward to ensure political stability in the country.
Talking to the media, he said the national economy has been affected and it would be harmed further if the political instability prolongs. He noted that rupee is depreciating against dollar every day and economic gains are fragile. Political uncertainty, he said, would result in huge economic loss to the country. The constitution has to be interpreted in totality, and violation of Article 63-A could not be ignored, he said.
Fawad said Pakistan Democratic Movement and other opposition political parties had been demanding fresh elections, and as the National Assembly has been dissolved they should shift their focus towards elections.
He lashed out at a journalist after he was asked to comment on corruption allegations against Farah Khan, a close friend of former first lady Bushra Bibi. During a press conference with PTI members Asad Umar, Shahbaz Gill and Ali Muhammad Khan, the former information minister was asked to comment on reports alleging that Farah Khan was involved in corrupt activities and had recently left the country with her husband.
Vexed at the question, Fawad claimed that the journalist was a “hired phoney” and that he knew where the reporter acquired his “bribe” from. He also began hurling abuses at the reporter. All the journalists present at the press conference were enraged at Fawad’s reaction and demanded an apology from him, only for him to question why he should apologize and to whom. Soon after, Fawad started his statement but was cut off by chants from the journalists who refused to listen to him.
Observing the severity of the situation, the other PTI leaders tried to convince the journalists to listen to Asad Umar instead, as they were boycotting Fawad Chaudhry and not the other PTI members. Simultaneously, however, Fawad questioned why his colleague should speak instead of him and maintained that he had not told any lies. He demanded that he speak and everyone must listen. The journalists, in protest, dropped their microphones on the dais and said that they would not allow Fawad to speak unless he apologized to the reporter who he abused.
The PTI leaders soon ended the press conference and left. Earlier this week, Farah Khan had left for Dubai following the dissolution of National Assembly in the wake of the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan. In addition to Farah, other leaders of PTI have also started to leave for abroad. According to sources in the PTI, Farah left for Dubai on Sunday and her husband also resides in the Emirati state.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as well as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice-President Maryam Nawaz mentioned Farah Khan several times recently and accused her of being involved in corruption. PTI leader and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday denied the allegations levelled against him a day ago by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who had said the Foreign Ministry was involved in a fake letter controversy.
Maryam was referring to the “threat” letter Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed was sent to him by a foreign diplomat. The premier, while waving the letter during a jalsa in Islamabad, had claimed that the United States was trying to remove him from power and had conspired with the opposition. The no-confidence motion against him was part of the same controversy, the PM had maintained.
Addressing a press conference alongside former planning and development minister Asad Umar, Qureshi said that he categorically denies the allegations that the letter was manufactured in the Foreign Office. “This is the version of the opposition, but I refute it,” he told journalists. “This letter is very real, therefore, do not create ambiguity around this matter.”
