Musharraf's passport, CNIC can be suspended for failure to apear in court: Iqbal

By
GEO NEWS

LAHORE: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday warned former president Pervez Musharraf of dire consequences upon failure to appear before the court. 

Addressing the media in Lahore, the federal minister said that the interior ministry could cancel Musharraf's passport and national identity card if he remains absent from court proceedings of an ongoing high treason case against him. 

On Friday, Musharraf had requested for foolproof security upon return to Pakistan in relation to his appearance in the ongoing high treason case against him.

"Musharraf is in good health and must appear before the court," said Iqbal.

Discussing the upcoming elections during his media address, the minister said that 'failed forces' have kept up their efforts to create hurdles in the democratic process but the fate of democracy lies with the nation of 200 million people. 

"The people cannot be fooled anymore," he said. "Even in 2013, just before the elections, slogans such as 'first accountability, then elections' and 'first state then elections' were raised but I fail to understand why these slogans surface right before the elections."

The federal minister further said that so many games had been played in Pakistan that people had lost faith in some forces.

Speaking about the security situation in the country, Iqbal observed that the PML-N led government had curbed terrorism during the course of its rule. 

"We curbed terrorism during the tenure of our rule. People are trying to get tickets of Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Karachi – a city where extortion chits were a norm till some time back," he told the journalists. 

The interior minister also spoke about the government's resolve to achieve its target to become one of the world's top 25 economies by 2025. 

"We have changed the direction of the country in the past five years and we will achieve our target to become one of the world's 25 economies by 2025," said Iqbal.