Vawda says ruling parties under delusion of being only option

• Vawda says heat PDM parties are slowly generating could spark fire.
• Former federal minister says "[only] ‘one page’ is Pakistan".
• Ex-PTI member says all parties practiced intense hypocrisy.

ISLAMABAD: Former federal minister Faisal Vawda has said that the ruling parties are living under the delusion of being the only option for having the reins of the country, The News reported.

He said that it is Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties’ fantasy that they are the only option to run the country, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — his former party — also had a similar misconception in the past.

“In Pakistan, no option is the last option,” he asserted while speaking on Geo News' programme "Naya Pakistan".

"We shouldn't forget the past of any politician. They can't function themselves; [how] they would run the country," he said.

The former minister went on to say that all parties, including PTI, have been tested.

"No party would be able to get a majority for the next 10, 15, or 20 years," he said.

Vawda said that some of the PDM parties a talking about elections in 60 days, while some are saying polls will take place in 90 days, as the coalition faces differences within it.

He warned that the heat PDM parties are slowly generating a spark that could lead to a fire.

Vawda also said that the only ‘one page’ is Pakistan, asking whether an ugly page could be attached to a clean page.

The former federal minister criticised Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb for saying on a TV show that the federal government had not placed a ban on naming PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the media. 

He asked Marriyum to name those who had imposed the ban if the government had not done so.

Vawda also quoted Marriyum as saying that someone had whispered into a judge’s ear in the case of missing journalist Imran Riaz.

He said all the political parties had reservations regarding the establishment but that they all practiced intense hypocrisy and double standards when it came to what they say in public compared to what they do behind closed doors.

As examples, he cited Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif publicly chanting “mujhe kyun nikala (why was I ousted?)" but also directing his party to vote for General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa’s extension; PTI chief extending Bajwa’s term because he wanted his government to have an easy time and then later accusing the same man of plotting a regime change.

Vawda claimed that Pakistan Peoples' Party Co-chairman Asif Zardari and PDM chief Fazlur Rehman had also done similar things in the past. He also spoke of a ‘trust deficit’ which he said exists and which was also the reason behind the reports of Ishaq Dar’s name as the caretaker prime minister.