ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday said that the Sharif family had no role in the future politics of the country.

“All four Sharifs are now minus (politically handicapped) and have no more role to play in the politics,” he told a press conference. He also advised members of the Sharif family in politics to stop dreaming about grabbing a ‘good opportunity’.

He criticised what he called the vision-less opposition for choosing the wrong time for holding a protest.

“They have already lost their time and now they will get nothing but spoil their and ours time.”

Referring to the opposition’s planned long march on Islamabad, the interior minister declared that the marchers would not be stopped and acted against if they did not take the law into their own hands. He said there was no valid reason for holding two separate long marches when local government elections were to be held soon.

The minister said that opposition parties were now in a state of confusion and stress as the government was “successfully” running the state affairs against their expectations and desire.

He blamed the opposition for the much-criticised deal with the IMF, saying the government had to go to the International Monetary Fund due to the weak economic policies of past governments.

“Opposition parties have looted the country’s money during their tenures without realising the negative impact of their wrongdoings on all sectors of the country.

“Their flawed economic plans compelled us to accept this hard deal just to put the economy of the country on the right track,” Mr Rashid said. He expressed the confidence that things would improve now and more investment would come in the country, besides progress in other sectors.

He said that this year March 23 will be an important day as many important personalities of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are likely to attend the Pakistan Day parade.

He said the Chinese J-10C fighter jets’ flypast would add to the beauty of the parade, leaving many to wonder if Pakistan had purchased the multi-role jets also known as “vigorous Dragon”.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2022