LAHORE: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry claimed on Saturday that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would not be able to stay abroad for long due to the new laws introduced in the United Kingdom against corruption and money laundering.

Talking to the media on his visit to a private university, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan would have no need to personally go to London to bring Nawaz back as the PML-N leader himself would return to the country.

The minister said the protests by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would create uncertainty in the country and harm the economic progress. He urged the PDM leaders to accept the prime minister’s fresh offer for a dialogue on all national issues except cases against them. He said the protest by the opposition had lost moral justification after the PM’s offer.

Mr Chaudhry termed the recent crisis in the Sindh police and reports about abduction of the police chief a drama. He alleged that the police officers followed the instructions from Bilawal House.

Terms ‘Karachi incident’ a drama

The minister maintained that the government would not be dissolved but Nawaz would return to the country before Jan 15, 2021. He said the opposition would get nothing from its protests.

To a question about the Supreme Court’s detailed judgment in reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Mr Chaudhry said he personally believed that it’s not the role of the government but of the bar councils and associations to hold accountability of the judges in terms of quality of their decisions and reputation.

To another query about the rising inflation, the minister claimed that prices of flour and other edible commodities had decreased during the last week. However, he said, inflation was a worldwide problem caused by the Covid-19 and it would start diminishing after the introduction of vaccine in the coming months.

Earlier, the minister urged female students to opt for science more instead of the medical profession as there was more scope for them in higher studies in science subjects.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2020