Political powers should not be pushed against the wall: Iqbal

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, without naming any institution has said that “certain forces” are responsible for the political crises and “uncertainty” that is prevailing in the country.

While saying that there are some vibes that some forces are trying to wrap up the democratic set-up in the country ahead of the Senate elections due in March, the interior minister said that the country is facing more threats now than has ever had in its history.

He added that it was unfortunate that the “country’s political dynamics are showing some very negative signs at a time when Pakistan is facing immense threats on the external front”.

While speaking about the imminent political crises in Balochistan following the no-confidence drive against the province’s chief minister, Iqbal claimed that the resignations were rendered under pressure. The interior minister also said that whoever is doing this is not serving the country, but weakening it.

Warning that politics of distress and sit-ins would strengthen President Trump’s agenda against the country, Iqbal said that we are trying to make Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) along with other political parties realise that it was not the time for sit-ins, but unity against external threats.

The interior minister guaranteed that the PML-N government would play its due role against any attempts made to destabilise the country’s democratic and constitutional set-up.

Targeting Imran Khan, Iqbal said that the PTI chief would be remembered as a “pawn in the hands of those wanted to undermine the country”.

Speaking about Nawaz Sharif’s threat that he would expose on “what has been happening in Islamabad for the past four years”, the interior minister said that political powers should not be pushed against the wall.

“People wonder who is the force that makes” PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Mustafa Kamal of Pak Sarzameen Party and the PTI chief Imran Khan to share the same table with the PAT chief Tahirul Qadri, said the minister.

“We are trying our best to maintain domestic harmony in the face of external threats,” he added.

He claimed that the US President Trump’s tweet, in which he accused Pakistan of giving Washington “nothing but lies and deceit”, was linked with the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif.

While saying that Nawaz was “punished” for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and turning the country around from a crisis-like situation, the minister claimed that Trump’s tweet accusing Islamabad of deceiving the US was linked to Nawaz Sharif’s ouster.