ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Monday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its coalition parties were fighting the battle for the future of Pakistan and would achieve historic victory in the Senate elections on March 3.
Addressing a press conference along with the leaders of coalition parties, including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the minister said all the coalition parties wanted to put the country on right direction and that was why were united.
“The MQM-P, GDA, BAP and PML-Q – we all are standing with each other,” he added. The people wanted that their leadership should be honest and they found the PTI most suitable, he said.
He expressed hope that there would not be any bargaining on Senate seats in the current elections.
The minister stated that his family had been in politics for decades and he himself had been elected as senator thrice and hopefully he would would again be elected as member of the Senate.
It was imperative for democracy that whoever got a chance he or she should come forward to serve the country, he added.
“Some persons are endowed with some capabilities by Allah Almighty such as education and hard work due to which their services are demanded across the world,” he said. “If Allah has given me the opportunity to be affiliated with the best university of the world, Harvard, it is a matter of pride for me and my family and friends.”
Similarly, he continued, his opportunity to have worked with World Bank (WB), wherein he advised 20 to 22 countries, was a blessing from Allah. He said if anybody was more intelligent and was demand in the world, it should not be questioned.
The federal minister said whenever he was invited to come and serve the country, he was always ready.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque said that MQM-P was fully supporting the government to strengthen democracy and parliament, and to root out corruption from the country. He said work was on full swing on a package announced for the development of Karachi.
The government of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) did not pay attention to the development of Sindh, he stated. Members of parliament belonging to Sindh were being threatened or being offered bribes to change their loyalties, he maintained.
However, he maintained that MQM-P stood firmly with the federal government and would support the PTI candidates in the Senate elections.
Minister of Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza said Senate elections were very important for continuity of the process and strengthening of democracy. She said that the Senate elections should be held under the constitution to eliminate the corruption.
Only the proportionate representation of the parties could help eliminate corruption in the elections of Senate, she added.
Tariq Bashir Cheema of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) said that all allied parties have joined their hands to fully support the PTI candidate Shaikh in the Senate elections.
