ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday said that Pakistani troops had an advisory role in Saudi Arabia and they were there for the last 30 years with their number changing.
Around 2500 Pakistani troops were imparting training in Saudi Arabia, he said in an interview to a private media outlet.
The prime minister said he would also take the parliament into confidence on the matter. Pakistan would support any other country wishing to take benefit from its expertise in the war against terrorism, he added.
To a question, he said it was being forecasted that the government’s days were numbered, but it was now established that it would complete its tenure. However, challenges were always there, which the government would face, he added.
When asked about Iran’s decision to hand over the Chahbahar Port to India, the premier said if it was a fact, then it was wrong and Pakistan would take it up with Iran. But, he added, Iran had always termed both Gwadar and Chahbahar as complimentary ports.
PM Abbasi said he had not criticised the judiciary, in fact had talked of the constitutional limits. The country had suffered a lot whenever the institutions crossed their limits, he said.
Breaching privilege of any institution would lead to a free-for-all situation, he said and added, “Such things can never be in the country’s interest. Executive always takes decisions in the national interest, but in case they turn out to be wrong, they must not be made culprit,” he added.
The prime minister said the July 28 verdict had been implemented and it was the people to judge that verdict in the upcoming general elections. The said the controversial decision had no legal precedence as there had not even been the right to appeal. The decisions causing instability in the country needed caution, he added.
Replying to the question if the elections would be held in time, he said that it was a constitutional requirement to hold the polls within 60 days and in case of any delay, the constitution also provided for a year’s extension to the government.
He also criticised the controversial decisions made by the courts in the past, which were “not accepted by the people”.
He said only the people’s elected government could represent them well as no non-elected government had ever delivered in the country.
The prime minister said Chaudhary Nisar’s reservations, which he believed were not justified, would be addressed. Maryam Nawaz neither had any party office nor was she in government. However, if there were any reservations, such matters should have been taken up in the party meetings, not publicly, he added.
He clarified that Ch Nisar would never quit the party as he knew him for a long time. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had delivered and no one would want to leave the winning party, he said.
To a question, he said Shehbaz Sharif’s name was not final for the prime minister’s slot.
After getting a majority in the polls, the central executive committee of the party would decide about it, he said, adding that Nawaz Sharif would be his choice for the premiership.
About the Balochistan situation, he said the parliamentarians would have to answer to the people as their actions were apolitical and unjustified.
He criticised those planning to win the Senate elections through horse-trading or using their riches. The venal politicians would be exposed and boycotted, he added.
When asked about Nawaz Sharif’s arrest, the prime minister said Nawaz was ready for that though he could not be convicted as he was fair and there was no evidence against him in any of the cases. “Nawaz Sharif appeared before the courts but no one could furnish any evidence of corruption against the thrice-elected prime minister,” he added.
About Rao Anwar, the prime minister said it was a provincial subject and the Supreme Court had taken up the case.
The prime minister questioned as to why only in Nawaz Sharif’s case, the accountability court was conducting two hearings in a month. “Was Nawaz Sharif the only accused in the country?” he asked.
To a question, he said if there was any need to put Nawaz’s name on the exit control list (ECL), the government would do so. But was there any such need, as he was willing to appear in the courts, the prime minister asked.
The premier wished Imran Khan well for his third marriage and said that his private matter should not be made part of the media debate.
