Buzdar to remain CM as long as he has trust of PM Imran: Fawad

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that Usman Buzdar will keep on working as the chief minister as long as he has the trust of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“If a chief minister has backing from the PM they will keep on working,” said Fawad, while answering a question about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent comments on Usman Buzdar in Geo News programme Geo Pakistan.

The federal minister was asked about Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday expressing satisfaction over the performance of Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar, amid speculation and unverified reports of the government thinking to replace the chief minister.

“Opposition not an issue”

The minister also remarked that the opposition was not an issue for the incumbent government but it was the expectations that people have with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf that were an issue.

“Opposition is not an issue, the issue is that the peopel have a lot of expectations from the PTI and people hope that PTI will bring a sea change in Pakistan and that is a challenge for us,” said Fawad.

The minister explained that the opposition did not pose a threat as political parties are based on individuals, adding that if one individual is eliminated then the party goes into confusion. He cited the example of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), saying that the party was headless since the exit of supremo Nawaz Sharif.

Moon sighting system sent for approval

Fawad Chaudhry shared that his ministry has formalised a system for moon sighting and sent it to the legislative affairs ministry for approval; adding that the ministry forwarded it to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) as well.

“Now it is their and the cabinet’s job if they want to impose it or not,” said the minister.

The minister believes that If people continue to rely on sighting the moon with the naked eye, the country will “never be able to determine a single or certain Eid because it will be different every time and it will go on like this”.

“If you say you want to see it from the naked eye, then the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee should comprise men and women of 20 to 22 years age whose eyesight [is perfect],” said the minister.

Fawad also went on to claim that the Hajj moon was born on Monday night at 10:33pm and yesterday was present for “more than 24 hours” but the moon sighting committee said they did not see it “as there were clouds in Karachi”.

He further asked that if seeing the moon was “halal” using an old technology, then “why was it haram for seeing it using new technology?"

Fawad and his ministry were put under the spotlight after Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairperson Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman announced that Eid-ul-Adha for this year will be celebrated on August 1, after the body that met on Tuesday in Karachi could not sight the Zilhajj moon.

However, the federal minister had said that Eid ul Adha would be celebrated on July 31 in Pakistan "as per calendar of the Ministry of Science and Technology".

Chaudhry had said that the moon for the month of Zilhajj would be seen in Karachi and its surrounding areas on July 21. He had added that the moon could be sighted with the help of binoculars and in some areas, with the naked eye as well.