Legislation on national issues: Opposition not cooperating with govt: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was ready to sit with opposition parties to make legislation on national issues but they were not cooperative.

Talking to a private news channel, referring to Financial Action Task Force (FATF), he said that it was a matter of national interest and the opposition should have cooperated on it fully. But sadly, the opposition was demanding to close corruption cases and wanted to National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), he added.

He further said that the Pakistan went to FATF due to poor performance of previous governments, while now they were politicizing it.

We have completed 21 targets of FATF and Pakistan would be out of the FATF grey list in February 2021, after the completion of the remaining targets.

He said the opposition movement would be continued till the senate election, while it has nothing to do with the common man and neither have the support.

“We want political stability but we will not give NROs,” he added.

In response to a question on (Safdar Awan) Karachi incident, Minister said since the 18th amendment, all the powers had transferred from the federation to the provinces, so maintaining law and order is the first responsibility of the provincial governments.

He also said that the 18th Amendment has created complications in the governance system, while no province is ready to transfer power to the lower level.

When asked about bringing ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif back home, he said that there was no justification for him to stay in London so he would be to return soon.

He also admitted that there was price hike in the country but the overall economic condition was far better than other countries, meanwhile PM Imran Khan was taking effective steps to control inflation in the country.

Fawad Hussain Sunday said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders were carrying anti-state agenda to make happy to the country’s enemies.

The actions should be taken against the PDM leaders those were mocking and attacking the national institutions including judiciary and armed forces, he said.

The minister termed the PDM public meeting in Quetta was a flop show and abortive exercise against the government, adding there was no threat to the democratic system and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would complete its constitutional term.

He said the difference of opinion with the government policies and programmes was part of the democratic set-up.

The minister asked the PDM leaders that why they were criticizing the country’s institutions.