Daily Times

NAROWAL: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Sunday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan had been making attempts to forestall the forthcoming Senate elections.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, he said that the PTI chief desired to get the national and provincial assemblies dissolved to prevent the Senate elections.

“All conspiracies being hatched against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will fall through,” the minister said.

The statement comes after Imran Khan had insisted on dissolving the assemblies to hold early elections in order to “save and strengthen democracy.” Imran Khan had said last week, “With economic disaster looming and a complete paralysis of governance, Pak [istan] needs early elections to save and strengthen democracy.”

Stressing the need for snap elections, in another statement, he said that early elections were the only way out for all prevalent political and economic problems in the country.

However, the government and all other opposition parties had been vehemently opposing his demand as they called for holding the next polls on time. Conducting the national polls on time to ensure smooth transfer of reins of power to the next government seems to be an uphill task as the government and political parties have yet to carry out legislation for fresh delimitation of constituencies and reallocation of seats in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, Ahsan Iqbal also said that terrorism can only be defeated through collaboration and not confrontation among countries of the world. In an interview, he said that there were no safe havens in Pakistan for terrorists and Pakistani security forces had eliminated all their hideouts across the country.

The minister said Pakistan had paid a heavy price in the war against terror and its security forces were carrying out round-the-clock combing and intelligence operations.

Ahsan Iqbal vowed to make Pakistan a peaceful country and an economic power in the region. He said harbouring terrorism was not compatible to Pakistan’s ambitions to become an economic power in the region. Answering a question, the minister said the US had spent over three trillion dollars in Afghanistan, but had failed to restore stability there. He said forty percent of Afghanistan’s territory was still under Taliban control and they did not need safe havens inside Pakistan.

He said safe recovery of a US citizen, her husband and her three children was a bright example of cooperation between Pakistan and the United States. Replying to a question, Ahsan Iqbal said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was extending Pakistan the much needed investment and cooperation in various sectors, including energy, infrastructure and connectivity, which is vital for economic growth and development.

Published in Daily Times, November 13^th 2017.