LAHORE: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Husain Chaudhry has said the PML-N leaders who had been talking about “minus-one” formula to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan have themselves disappeared from the political scene.

He was talking to the media after holding a meeting with a delegation of the Insaf Students Federation (ISF), the student wing of the PTI, at the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) on Saturday.

The minister said the PML-N itself had become leaderless as first Nawaz, then Shahbaz and now Ms Maryam stood “minus” from the opposition.

He said the PTI government was struggling to change overall system of the country and not just faces, adding that the youth’s role was important to achieve the objective.

He wondered the Sharifs were doing politics in Pakistan, but holding meetings in London.

Mr Fawad said the opposition had neither any political strategy nor it was in a position to change the government.

On the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) appointments, he said the government and the opposition had acted responsibly and it was expected the matter would get resolved soon.

He reiterated need for a new charter between the institutions for bringing improvement in their affairs and better cooperation.

The minister said the PTI was in favour of restoration of student unions and wanted to bring reforms as per the standards of foreign varsities. “In the past the student unions did not play any positive role in different universities, especially in Punjab University,” he said.

He said the government was waiting for a detailed verdict of the Supreme Court on the appointment of the Chief of Army Staff and would later see how to resolve the issue.

He said the parliament was not subordinate to the SC that it needed to follow its directions to make law for COAS appointment.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2019