Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday strongly rejected the notion that the reaction of the government on the remarks of an honourable judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan indicated any friction, or the commencement of a silent war between the two institutions.

Talking to a private news channel, she said that the government, however, felt concerned about the remarks because they had tarnished the national identity and prestige in the comity of nations. She said that the remarks against an elected government and the constitutional office of the prime minister were very unfortunate.

The minister said that the prime minister never tolerated a loose-cannon behaviour by any member of the party as was manifest by his immediate punitive action against Nihal Hashmi, before the issue came to the notice of the SC.

Responding to a question, Marriyum said that it was unprecedented in the history of any political party in Pakistan that in a single day, a member of parliament was served with a show-cause notice, his party membership and position was revoked and he was directed to resign from his position as a senator. It was a major decision by the prime minister to take back three positions from Nehal Hashmi in a single day.

She said despite reservations, Sharif family was assisting the apex court as well as the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on the issue of Panama leaks.

When asked about a news report that claimed Whatsapp communication between SC registrar and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) regarding the nomination of an officer for JIT, she said: “If there was any doubt about any member of JIT, the SC should have taken notice of it to ensure transparency in the investigation.”

To a question about Jemima’s statement, the minister said that she had made been making conflicting statements in the past.

“There has always been a marked contrast between the words and deeds of Imran Khan. It has been his habit to hurl unsubstantiated allegations against others. When he himself is in the dock, he starts denigrating the institutions and using abusive language against them,” she said.