Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira on Thursday urged politicians to follow ideological politics and avoid changing loyalties for political gains.
Talking to state-run TV, he said the politicians, who were not following ideological norms would lose their political credibility. He said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) believed in ideological politics and followed democratic norms and was against changing the political loyalties.
To a question, he said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the first time in the country’s politics was contesting free and fair elections, adding that in the past this party had got victory in polls through the support of state agencies.
He said that the PML-N had strongly criticised the Raisani-led Balochistan government for not maintaining peace in Balochistan. He questioned that now how the PML-N included Lashkari Raisani in their party.
To another question, Kaira said that interim setup would have limited powers and it would not influence the coming general elections at any cost, he said.
Kaira said that nomination of caretaker PM was under the constitution. He said that interim prime minister would be nominated in consultation with leaders of the house and opposition, and if consensus was not developed then the matter would be resolved by newly-formed parliamentary committee or by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
To another question, Kaira said the PPP did not believe in political victimisation as the PML-N had used law-enforcement agencies in Punjab to victimise their opponents. He added that the PML-N was considered a family party, which shared all powers in their family and relatives.
Kaira said that the PPP initiated the reconciliatory politics, which benefited PML-N leadership, which came back from exile and was able to participate in the country’s politics. He said that the government had started the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project to overcome the energy crisis in the country and avoided any foreign pressure to roll back this project.
The minister said that resolving the energy crisis in the country was top priority of the government as it had started the Neelum-Jhelum and Kohala hydro-energy projects which would be completed in 2015-16. He added that the coalition government revived the 1973 Constitution in its original form and enhanced the country’s exports at record level.
Kaira said, “There is a great need to focus on our economy, especially rural economy, which will benefit 70 percent of the population living in rural areas.”
