Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry ridiculed opposition parties on Thursday by stating that PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has been “celebrating her defeat” in the local government polls, recently held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The minister, while speaking to media in Lahore stated that “instead (of celebrating), they [PPP and PML-N] should have visited their party workers in KP to boost their morale. They should have done national politics,” the information minister said.
It is pertinent to note that in the elections held in the 17 districts of KP on December 19, the PTI, which has been in power in the province since 2013, conceded ground to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).
As per the provincial results of of 47 of the 63 tehsils declared by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the JUI-F won 17 seats of mayor/chairperson while the PTI came in second by securing 12 seats.
The independent candidates grabbed the third highest number of seats at seven, followed by Awami National Party at six, PML-N at three and Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Tehreek-i-Islahat Pakistan bagging one seat each.
Similarly, in the provincial capital Peshawar, the JUI-F bagged a definitive lead in the contest for the mayor of the city. JUI-F candidate Haji Zubair Ali managed to secure62,388 votes against 50,659 votes secured by PTI’s Rizwan Bangash.
Contrary to the results, Fawad Chaudhry has claimed that the two biggest opposition parties in the National Assembly, the PPP and the PML-N, “did not get any votes there [in KP]” and that they are “celebrating the end of their parties”.
He further added that it had been proved after the elections that the PTI was the largest party in KP’s village councils.
The minister went on to state that “we are competing against political dwarfs,” while adding that “We are facing the PPP in some areas [of the country], the PML-N in other areas and competing against the JUI-F at some places. None of them have a man of Imran Khan’s stature.”
Politics, he said, would end if they were not given any television coverage for two to four days as “there is no one from among them on the ground”.
He further commented that the “so-called politics of big [opposition] parties has been surviving only because of television coverage.”
Chaudhry was accompanied by SAPM Shahbaz Gill, who without naming anyone, stated a “systematic campaign” was started in the last few days to “launch a kid as a politician”.
Gill while making an apparent reference to PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz and Captain retired Muhammad Safdar’s son, Junaid Safdar, he stated that “a consultant had been hired who had told them that one needs to be handsome to get votes”.
“But a charismatic personality is not enough to launch someone in politics. One needs to evolve. But what has been your evolution … exposure, struggle, achievement and contribution?” he remarked.
It is pertinent to note that Gill’s remarks come two days after Safdar stated Junaid would follow in the family’s footsteps and become a politician.
“This is the writing on the wall that he (Junaid) will go into politics. A lawyer’s son becomes a lawyer, a doctor’s son becomes a doctor, a pir’s (spiritual leader) son becomes his successor and he (Junaid) is from a family of politicians,” Safdar had said while speaking to reporters in Islamabad.
Additionally, Fawad Chaudhry also took a jab at PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, who had stated earlier this week that he would put up camps in Lahore to stage a protest against the federal government.
In this regard, Chaudhry stated that “Zardari sahib, just two tents will suffice for your supporters,” while adding that the PPP’s decline had been such that it had to search for candidates to contest elections in Punjab. “This is what they have made of a big party like the PPP, ” he stated.
He further said that Zardari would ask for a wheelchair or special vehicles used for transporting persons with disabilities when he had to go to the court.
“But when he gets bail, he starts making tall claims,” he added.
It is pertinent to note that Zardari had recently announced that the PPP government in Sindh would introduce a plan for the province. Chaudhry, while reacting to this statement, stated that it had been years since the PPP was in power in Sindh and questioned Zardari “when will you introduce a plan”.
“You are thinking of coming to Lahore and Islamabad, but soon you will realise that you cannot even go to Larkana and Nawabshah,” he said, referring to two PPP strongholds in Sindh.
The minister concluded by expressing confidence that the PTI would form the government in Sindh after next elections.
