Zubair Ali Khan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice-President and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry has said there was complete silence on the part of the army chief, but the whole country was waiting to see his standpoint under the current circumstances.
He said they had yet to get a response from the establishment after Imran Khan offered for talks. Pakistan he said that the PTI has a ‘respectful relationship’ with Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and they have no problem with him.”
“What is the army chief thinking is very important? ’
In an exclusive interview with We News, Fawad said: “The army chief is the most powerful person in the country. What he is thinking in the current situation is very important. “The army chief had said in his first speech that Pakistan’s problems are huge and we have to move towards consensus to solve them, but so far there is silence from him after that speech and nd Pakistan is waiting to see what the army chief’s narrative is and how he wants to take things forward,” he said
‘No response to offer for talks’
The former federal minister said that the army chief is saying, on the one hand, that everyone should move towards consensus, and Imran Khan had offered to talk to everyone, but there is no response to his offer from the establishment. “I am confused on this issue. We want to act on what the army chief said. If the country has to be brought out of the quagmire, then practical steps will have to be taken to implement what the army chief had said in his speech,” he said.
Fawad Chaudhry said that “the establishment has an important role in the politics of the country and what Gen Asim Munir said in his first speech that everyone has to solve the problems with consensus is the solution to the problems the country is facing.”
‘Politicians don’t have guts to take stand against establishment’
Responding to a question about not taking a stand against the establishment when his party was power, the former minister said: “Politicians do not have tenacity and courage to take a stand against the establishment. Even when they come to power, they get no powers and the real power lies with the establishment. So, such things cannot happen.”
‘People will have to be empowered’
He said that he has not distanced himself from the establishment but “there are differences of opinion on certain issues.” He said, “the establishment, judges and generals are the people of the society, and if Pakistan has to progress, then the masses have to be empowered.”
Fawad Chaudhry said, “I want good relations with the establishment, I want relations to be normal, it is necessary to have good relations with the establishment.”
‘Now world has changed’
“The people of Pakistan have to be respected. Shahid Hussain and Azhar Mashwani were kidnapped. Shahid Hussain was a British citizen, but the kidnappers apologised to him on a phone before his release. Azhar Mashwani and others who were abducted are Pakistanis. “The people of Pakistan will have to be considered the power-holders. There is no other option, now the world has changed.”
‘Have respectful relationship with Qazi Faez Isa’
In response to a question about Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Fawad Chaudhry said, “This is not the issue of the PTI, we have a respectful relationship with Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The reference sent against him was prepared by by Farogh Naseem. And on whose behest it was filed, Farogh Naseem knows about it very well.”
‘Government wants to pressure judges’
The former federal minister said that “when the government files a reference against the judiciary, the government wants to put the judges under pressure. Now Shahbaz Sharif has filed a reference against two judges through his lawyer. The government must allow the judiciary to work independently.”
‘Shehbaz Sharif has agenda to impose martial law’
On Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s demand for an apology before the talks, Fawad Chaudhry said, “We have to negotiate only on elections, and Shahbaz Sharif is basically running away from the elections. Shahbaz Sharif is a non-serious man. There is a mess everywhere in the country, but he wants to impose martial law in the country. Shahbaz Sharif has no agenda apaer from imposing the martial law.’
‘No one ready to get PML-N ticket’
He said that no one was ready to get the ticket of PML-N. “There will be a contest between the PTI and independent candidates in the election. The independent candidates will not be those who will not be able to get the tickets,” he said
When asked about the London plan, he said, “Imran Khan has discussed the London plan in detail. “He has been attacked before, and if he is talking about it, then he will have enough proof about it”
