Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday dispelled the impression that there were rifts within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), saying neither were there any disagreements amid the party nor was the government going anywhere.
In a series of posts shared on Twitter, Chaudhry said that the party agreed that Prime Minister Imran Khan's success was imperative for the success of the democratic system in Pakistan.
The federal minister's tweets come a day after Chaudhry pointed to an ongoing ‘cold war’ between elected and non-elected members in the government. In an interview with Samaa TV, Chaudhry said: "I still believe that our [government’s] political decision-making is weak. Important decisions are taken and we are not even aware. There is a need to improve how decisions are made."
Chaudhry had later taken to Twitter to say that “some headlines” of his interview were misleading.
Read: Fawad’s musings shine light on PTI rifts
The minister on Sunday said that if we take a look at where other countries, who were granted independence along with Pakistan, were standing today, we can realise what the country has lost and what it has gained in the time.
In a subsequent tweet, Chaudhry said that civil institutions in Pakistan had been "completely destroyed", adding that nepotism could be found in every institution.
"The principles of recommendations and merit were set aside and these institutions were made a joke," he said.
Chaudhry added that there was "no hope" of these institutions improving in one or two years. He said that the premier was trying to rebuild a shattered system that he had inherited.
His comments come in the backdrop of Prime Minister Imran taking notice of the appointment of state minister and PTI leader Zartaj Gul's sister to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta). "This was against the ethics of PTI, which has always opposed nepotism," said Special assistant to the prime minister, Naeemul Haq, on Sunday.
Almost every TV channel carried Chaudhry’s statement yesterday, regarding weak decision-making and cold war among elected and non-elected members, in its headlines. It prompted Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan to assert that all decisions were made at the behest of the party leadership under Prime Minister Imran.
In a cabinet reshuffle in April this year, Prime Minister Imran Khan had replaced Chaudhry from the federal information ministry with Awan, appointing the latter as his special assistant on information.
Referring to the cabinet reshuffle in Saturday's interview, Chaudhry acknowledged that he faced a lot of interference from non-elected members when he was running the information ministry. “There were too many people trying to manage the ministry. There should be a definite position.”