Daily Times

Minutes after opposition parties decided to field a joint candidate for presidential election scheduled for September 4 , Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had enough support to get their candidate elected to office.

Speaking to media in the federal capital, the minister said: “The government is not threatened by any candidate the opposition brings forward for the post as it enjoys enough support to get Dr Arif Alvi elected as president. When asked about nominated Sindh governor Imran Ismail’s qualification, the minister maintained that if a matriculate could become president an intermediate could also become governor.

To another question, the minister said that the PTI government believed in freedom of expression. He said the government wanted to end monopoly over advertisements. “Soon a mechanism shall be devised in this regard.” Chaudhry said the he would soon have a meeting with PEMRA authorities to ensure payment of salaries as the government had received a number complaints that certain TV channels and media houses were not paying salaries to their staff.

He said that the government might ask TV channels to deposit a certain amount of money with the government to ensure payment of salaries from the amount deposited with the government.

Published in Daily Times, August 26^th 2018.