The Chaudhry brothers led Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) on Monday assured Prime Minister Imran Khan of “unflinching support” as the opposition seeks to oust the incumbent regime.
Speaking at an international symposium on hydropower development in Islamabad, PML-Q leader and Water Resources Minister Moonis Elahi puts damper on the opposition hopes of removing the PTI-led government through a no-trust motion and said if someone comes to their house, they would welcome them, as they were politicians.
The development came a day after PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif visited the Chaudhry brothers at their residence in Lahore after 14 years. However, Moonis was not present in the meeting.
The PML-N leader had sought the support of the PML-Q to take down the government.
“Politicians build and maintain relations; we [plan to maintain] relations with you,” Moonis, the son of Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, told PM Imran, who was also present on the occasion.
“Tell PTI ministers ghabrana nahi hai,” Moonis advised the prime minister.
Prime Minister Imran Khan reciprocated his sentiments when he said that he has “full faith” in the PML-Q.
Speaking after the federal minister, PM Imran said the PTI is battle-hardened and now “some people” (opposition leaders) have started contacting Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to show concern about his health. This indicates that they’re “panicking”.
“Chaudhry Shujaat has unmatchable political skills and we fully trust his family,” the premier asserted.
About developmental projects, the prime minister said the new under-construction mega dams would double the water storage capacity of Pakistan and would help address the issues related to climate change.
He said China had constructed 5,000 dams but Pakistan had only two dams built in the 1960s.
“Due to this negligence, Pakistan suffered losses. As Pakistan is using imported fuel for electricity generation, whenever petrol prices go up in the international market, electricity prices also rise in Pakistan and the burden increases on the public,” he said.
“If we had generated hydroelectricity, we would not have faced the present price hikes triggered by an increase in fuel prices,” he added.
FARRUKH HABIB: Later, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib took to Twitter and said Mooni’s statement about the recent political meetings had increased the “nervousness” of the opposition parties, especially Shehbaz Sharif.
PTI CEC MEETING: Later, addressing a meeting of the PTI Central Executive Committee, Prime Minister Imran said that all parties in the ruling coalition were standing with the PTI and they were going nowhere. He said they would counter the narrative of the opposition through performance.
Expressing anger at a campaign comprising personal attacks on the social media, the prime minister said that ‘unbridled’ freedom would be dangerous.
He said that personal attacks campaign on the social media was vicious and unbearable. “We will have to discourage such trends in society,” he added.
He directed the party leaders to discuss the successes of dams, health cards, Ehsaas and Kamyab Jawans. “The party leaders should highlight the welfare projects launched by the PTI government at the public level,” he added.
During the meeting, the committee also discussed the local body elections and political strategy.
In his speech, the prime minister also stressed the need to build dams, saying negligence on this issue since 1960 had “cost the country a lot” in terms of high electricity price and inflation.
“We wouldn’t have been facing such inflation if we had run hydroelectric projects,” he said, adding that every commodity became expensive when electricity was expensive.
He went on to say that lack of long-term planning led to further problems in the country, stressing the need for water storage. “Fastest growing country in the world, China, thinks about long-term planning, which is the reason of their success. They think about the future,” he said.
“Not like us, who think about five years as if a project will be completed in five years, then they will make it.”
He hailed his government for planning ahead than thinking about elections.
PM Imran called for providing water access to provinces in order to tap their agriculture potential in view of the rising population. He said resources were depleting due to fast increasing population.
“This decade of dams would double water storage capacity,” he said, adding that the clean electricity through water would also lower the impact on climate change. The premier also called for building tunnel technology that could also help in generating tourism.
On the Kalabagh Dam project, he alleged that anti-national forces were misguiding the people in Sindh by telling them that their “water will be stolen”.
“So, we have to run a complete campaign to tell them scientifically that they will have no harm when the Kalabagh dam will be built, and it will also benefit them,” he said.
