Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed offered on Sunday to pay for Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif's one-way ticket if he was willing to return to Pakistan, Aaj News reported.
“Nawaz created a drama to leave the country, but he never visited a doctor during his two-year stay in London. All he did from there, was attack the judiciary and establishment,” Rashid said while addressing a press conference in Karachi.
He said that three of Nawaz’s family members were in Pakistan, and if he wanted to return as well, the government could make arrangements for that.
To a question about civil-military relations, the minister said that the government and the military establishment were on the same page. He said that the reports of PML-N’s alleged deal with the establishment were speculated to make the ground for Nawaz Sharif's return as the British Home Office had rejected his application for visa extension.
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Commenting on Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s statement of establishing camps in the federal capital for protest, Rashid said that the opposition's “tents were soon going to be uprooted.”
The minister said that the opposition parties were making hay out of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's local body election results.
“PTI still received the highest number of votes in the first phase of KP LG polls,” he said adding that winning and losing was a part of the election process.
Rashid said that the people understand that the PTI government at its worsts was still better than “corrupt and dishonest” Sharifs and Zardaris.
“Look at yourself. You have been accused in one of the world's biggest corruption cases. This is our misfortune. People may disagree with our reforms and politics but everyone knows that the Sharifs and Zardari families are corrupt, dishonest, sluggish, and extravagant,” he added.
He added that PM Khan is not going anywhere. He will fight against the corrupt politicians till his last breath.
Talks with TTP
The Interior Minister clarified that no direct communication with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had taken place, adding that the negotiations were facilitated by the interim Afghan government.
He also said that the government will hold talks with the Afghan Taliban officials in Kabul on the border fencing issue.
“We want to solve the matter inclusively. It includes a lot of hard work and money.”
Rashid stressed that the Pakistan government was committed to helping the Taliban government fight the current humanitarian crisis in the country.
“They, too, have assured that Afghanistan's land won't ever be used against us,” he added.