Veteran journalist and senior analyst Arif Nizami, while commenting on the closure of Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, said on Tuesday that Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique overreacted over the issue of acquisition of railway land for the luxury hotel and that the fate of club’s members and employees was at stake now.
About PM’s return, Pakistan Today Editor Nizami during his programme DNA on Channel 24, said “the prime minister will return before July 10 and will touch down in Islamabad instead of going to Lahore to give a message that everything is fine in the government.”
According to Nizami, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who underwent an open-heart surgery last month in London, has resumed his official work as his principal secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad sends him the scanned copies of official documents to get his signature.
Nizami said that at present, there were five deputy prime ministers – Ishaq Dar, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and Shahid Khaqqan Abbasi – and they did not take any dictation from Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of PM Sharif.
About the political future of Maryam Nawaz, Nizami commented that she could be an apparent political heir of the Sharif family if groomed well.
About Pakistan, India ties, Nizami quoted PM’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz as saying that Pakistan would not bow down to India and the talks with New Delhi would be on an equal footing.
