APC 'failed after continuing for 10 hours': Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan

ISLAMABAD: The prime minister's special assistant on information, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, on Wednesday reacted to the All Parties Conference (APC) held earlier in the day, saying it had "failed after continuing for almost 10 hours".

"The APC's political show had started at 12 noon [but it] failed after continuing for almost 10 hours," Dr Awan said, adding that the event used to "host political actors" and "hold puppet shows".

"The APC's notification did not mention anything against corruption," she added, noting that the participating political parties did not seem to be in agreement over a viewpoint and that the "political actors do not find ‘corruption’ weird".

Further criticising the notification issued earlier in the day, the special assistant said she felt like "laughing over" it.

"The gendered language used in the APC notification is done so to deceive each other", she added, terming it a "confession of crime". Dr Awan further commented that the participating political parties were in danger from each other.

"The Opposition used to roll up sleeves to threaten to topple and send back home the government before the APC," she said. Their "survival is tied to corruption".

Talking about the Opposition's claims about rigging in the 2018 general election, she observed that they were suddenly pointing out flaws 10 months later.

"The ECP [Election Commission of Pakistan] was made by the government and the Opposition of that time and not the PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf]," she stressed.

Making another jibe at the Opposition, she said their logic seemed to be that elections were free and fair where they won and that "selection was done where they lost".

"The House first selected and then elected [Prime Minister] Imran Khan," the special assistant said. She remarked: "After selected and elected, what should be talked about now is ‘rejected for life’ … for those ‘rejected for life’ by the Supreme Court."

Dr Awan said there was a rule of Constitution and law in Pakistan at the moment, the budget would be passed since the Opposition's "bread and butter was linked to it", and that those in the APC "will have to patiently work for the next four years for old salaries".

She further noted that the incumbent PTI-led government would pay interest on the loans the prior leadership took.

Turning her attention, then, to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief, who took the initiative to hold the APC, she said: "Everyone is aware of Maulana Fazlur Rahman's despondency over not being in power.

"Fazlur Rahman's logic is: ‘If not me, then nothing’ and ‘If I’m in power, then the Parliament and the government work’. Fazlur Rahman facilitated the APC but who will pay the bill?"

Speaking of the Rahbar Committee announced by the APC, Dr Awan termed it a "joke for the people".

"The word ‘rahbar’ is a joke for people … leaders aren’t robbers. 99 percent of the Rahbar Council members are tainted with corruption."