ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday criticised Punjab Minister for Culture and Information Fayazul Hasan Chohan over his recent statements, saying he would pay for Chohan’s mental check-up.
“Lies are being spewed regarding NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance]. Ministers lie, and unfortunately, the prime minister has the same attitude. It’s an old habit of his,” he said while talking to reporters in the federal capital.
“We have said it time and again that they can use any forum they want to make accusations. Lying like that is not befitting of the government,” he added.
“If someone really wants to know how happy people are with the current government, they should go to the streets and ask them. When the 100-day progress report comes, we will know about the government’s real ‘progress’.”
“At dharnas, Imran Khan claimed he would establish the writ of the state. We are not aware of what the protesters said and only found out about them from the prime minister.”
“I was not aware of the talks about the army and court. Agreements were done [with the protesters] at night, which no one can comprehend,” he said.
In response to a question about comments by Chohan that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers were involved in the protests, Abbasi said that “the minister should get his head checked and I am ready to pay for it out of my own pocket”.
“The government should share details of their discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had vowed that they would rather die than go to them,” he added.
“Such a huge incident happened in the country and no minister or prime minister took the parliament into confidence over it,” he said, adding that the parliament must be taken into confidence over security and economic matters.
“China is our friend and no visit to the country can be termed as a failure. It is important the prime minister inform us regarding the talks in China since a lot of things mentioned in the joint statement require clarification,” the PML-N leader asserted.