ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has suggested to the main opposition parties to put their house in order before dreaming about the ouster of the government, contending that there is a clear division within their party ranks.

The government faced no threat from the ‘incompetent’ opposition that was incapable of seeing behind the wall, said Mr Rashid while talking to reporters on Wednesday.

He said there was a division in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) over resistance and reconciliation policies, while the grouping within PML-N was clearly visible to everyone.

Mr Rashid said Prime Minister Imran Khan would not only complete his five-year term, but would also win the next general polls to get another stint in power. Since the opposition was at a loss to understand how to go about it, the minister believed PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif would ultimately have to choose the path of reconciliation. He also said Mr Sharif had not filed an application seeking removal of his name from the Exit Control List.

Without naming anyone, the interior minister said corruption cases registered by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would be decided before the next elections.

He also vowed to purge all the departments under the interior ministry, including Federal Investigation Agency, passports and immigration and Nadra, of corruption.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2021