LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Friday that he supports and endorses Railways Minister Saad Rafique’s recent statement.
The statement, made on December 24, turned controversial when army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor on Thursday termed it “irresponsible”.
On December 24, Rafique had praised the army chief’s “confidence-boosting move” of briefing the Senate.
However, the minister had said ‘others’ should also support the army chief’s stance on whom “his command is applied to”. “They should also follow that order,” said Rafique and added that those who do mischiefs should also support the army chief.
In a press conference on Thursday, Maj Gen Ghafoor had said “[Rafique’s] statement is very irresponsible and unwarranted as you are targeting the chain of command and the subordination system of Pakistan Army”.
Later on Thursday, explaining his statement following the army spokesperson’s comments, Rafique said his speech was taken out of context and called for unity among state institutions.
Sanaullah said the narrative of the PML-N and Nawaz Sharif is the same — that institutions should work together.
“Khursheed Shah also said the right thing today,” said the provincial minister, adding that he agrees that a hype shouldn’t have been created over Rafique’s statement.
Earlier today, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Khursheed Shah, said he did not find anything objectionable in Rafique’s statement.
Addressing the media in Lahore, the senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader said: “There was nothing [in Rafique’s statement] to warrant an immediate and such a big reaction from ISPR. This shouldn’t have been done. The institution’s [army’s] each and every word is important”.