‘2022 is the year of general election’

Outspoken and fearless! That is exactly how Khawaja Muhammad Asif is described by his peers and rivals in Pakistani politics, simply because he is never known to mince his words. A veteran politician, who has seen it all, Asif has been one of the top faces of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for the last three decades. To his credit, he is equally adept at defending his party well on any sort of wicket and at effectively taking forward the PML-N’s narrative in political arenas as well on TV shows. Owing to his meritorious services for his party, Asif remains a trusted lieutenant of both Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif. This week Bol News speaks to him about some of the hot topics dominating the national political scene. 

In the political circles across Pakistan, it is being said that the next three months are make-or-break for the government. Do you foresee any change?

KMA: You know that since the time Imran Khan’s government came into power, it has been said that the next three months or four months are important; October is important, November is important. In my opinion these were just rumours. One institution is performing the sacred duty of protecting and defending the country and the other institution is supposed to be protecting the rights of the people and ensuring justice. So, their performance has become a topic of our casual discussions, which should not be happening. It has become a part of the national discourse, unfortunately, due to which people are prone to speculate and make random predictions.

In my opinion this discourse would not have been required had the constitution been implemented in the country in true letter and spirit. Let me recall that before Musharraf’s era, these discussions were not part of the national discourse. Though such discussions may be important, they have defined certain spheres to which they are important. But public comment on such a discourse – either positive or negative – was never part of the debate in the first 50 or 60 years of this country. I feel that this trend became popular since the advent of this century and now it has become part of day-to-day conversations. But the experienced and wise people do not form their opinion on speculations.

Are you foreseeing early elections?

KMA: In my opinion, the next general elections will be held in the first half of 2022. Let me tell you categorically, we do not believe in ousting the PTI government through unconstitutional means. We believe that all the constitutional procedures must be used to remove the government. The incumbent government has crashed under its own weight. The government has brought devastation in the country instead of bringing about the promised-change. Even its supporters are now also admitting Imran Khan’s failure. Of course, we all know that Imran has no political standing, while most of the PTI leadership comprises political travellers who frequently change ships. Let me say that those who keep changing their political affiliations have no respect amongst the masses.

You had said that for ‘no confidence motion’ the month of January is important. But it seems that the move has fizzled out.

KMA: We are heading towards destruction and collapse and in order to avoid that, we need a big change and that too urgently. However, the opposition parties look united and more on the same page inside the parliament than outside it and that needs to be checked and put right. If they develop a common agenda and make it clear, then in my opinion the no confidence motion will gradually crystallise in the coming days.  In my opinion the opposition parties should give definite replacement solutions and that too on a war footing.

I also feel that the odds may be on our side at this time because the number of disgruntled or angry leaders within Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – who believe that they cannot win the next general elections on its ticket – is increasing day by day, both in the parliament in federal capital as well as in Punjab. It is likely that if JUI-F wins (the second round of) local government elections, it will have an impact on the KP assembly as well. As far as the Balochistan assembly is concerned, they recently witnessed a change and how that change came is a long story too. The Balochistan kind of a formula could be adopted in the federal set-up as well but here change just for the sake of change is not needed.

Do you think that the Imran Khan-led government has managed to address the issues faced by Balochistan?

KMA: Akhtar Mengal’s speech on January 12 on the floor of the house reminded me that the people of East Pakistan assembly members used to say the same things and were confronted with similar issues. It is true that whether it’s the Rekko Dik project, Saindak, Sui or Gawadar, it is the property of our Baloch brothers and it is their right of preemption and then the federation and rest of Pakistan. What sort of justice is this that there is no gas in Dera Bugti and there is gas at my home in Sialkot? It is not the time for fights or quarrels. We must keep Pakistan united and intact at all costs. We have already lost East Pakistan. Everyone has the right to resources in Pakistan.

You see, everyone is mourning the Murree massacre and rightly so, but it is also true that what is happening in Balochistan the whole federation should mourn that too. It is a matter of national security, it is a matter of supremacy of the Constitution, it is a matter of supremacy of law and till the time you start treating the 22 billion people of the country equally and have the same consideration and standard for all of them, the fault lines within the country will continue to widen. The people of Pakistan, whether they belong to Balochistan, Sindh, KP or Punjab, feel like strangers while living in the country if these issues are not addressed on war footings. You should give rights to people of FATA like the other citizens of the country. Why are you not giving them their rights? Why is the bill related to them still pending at the Senate?  It is becoming a victim of political expediency. Let me be very clear, we cannot continue with this system anymore.

What is your take on the mini-budget?

KMA: It is not a mini-budget, it is a mega budget. All the leading financial houses have mentioned neutrality for all the indirect taxes because the government intends to pass on all these taxes to the common man. The entire burden of this mini-budget will be on the shoulders of the lower middle class and middle class. We have witnessed here in Pakistan that investors even spend two billion rupees on their weddings and there are billions of households in Pakistan who cannot even afford two meals a day, they cannot buy medicines. When there’s so much income disparity in the country then, God Forbid, such a country cannot survive and its unity is threatened. To increase taxes and impose new ones is no cure for the debilitating economy. The cure is that they should overcome corruption, stop the mafias minting money from medicines, stop the thieves who are making money by maneuvering and hoarding essential items such as flour, sugar, LNG, urea and several other.

Prime Minister Imran Khan was saying the other day that he has addressed the crises, but the fact is that he is the main cause of all the crises faced by my beloved Pakistan today. He and his government’s incompetency has triggered every crisis that the country faces today. Imran has admitted himself that their agenda of accountability has failed because it is not based on justice and was aimed at targeting one or two parties. None of the culprits responsible for sugar, medicine, LNG, Wheat and other crises have been arrested or punished so far because they were the financiers of this government. Because they used to give PTI a larger share of their money that was minted from these crises. Countries don’t run like this. Today, as many as 68% of people blame Imran Khan for the massive inflation in the country. Let me recall that during Shehbaz’s tenure as CM Punjab, medicines and cancer treatment were free-of-cost. Even if you (Imran Khan) were brought into power with a fake mandate in 2018, still it was your responsibility to address the problems faced by people of Pakistan and to address their woes. People who have brought them to power cannot carry their baggage now. Everyone is a witness to those who make phone calls when they require votes in the parliament and who call the parliamentarians in the dark of night to complete their number game in the parliament. This has been an ongoing process for the last three and a half years. The truth is, PTI never had the numbers on its side, but the powers that be helped the ruling party to complete the number game. It is shameful that on the one hand PTI says they have the backing of ‘Rawalpindi’ while on the other they say that they have exemplary civil-military relationship and are on the same page. It is the requirement of the Constitution that all the institutions should be on the same page and, if they are not on the same page then they are violating the Constitution.

I believe if someone is an elected representative and came to the parliament with the mandate of serving the people, it is an insult to this parliament (house) that they are looking for shoulders or support. Whenever they (PTI) are under pressure they give statements. For how long will you continue to survive on the big brother’s support? The ‘big brother’ will also lose patience because the government is unable to handle anything. There wouldn’t have been a need to impose new taxes, create a new budget if the theft of medicines, wheat and sugar were stopped.

What is your opinion about the Election Commission of Pakistan’s Scrutiny Committee Report on the alleged foreign funding of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)?

KMA: Scrutiny committee’s report of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been released but some of its parts are still not revealed. The PTI has been talking of faloodaywalas whereas billions of rupees are found in the accounts of their own chaiwalas. They taunt Shehbaz Sharif of money laundering and TTs, but can they explain where Rs 31 crores have surfaced in their own accounts which they haven’t declared. And where is that Rs1 billion which Mohsin Baig claims that he has given to PTI? He had also claimed that Abdul Aleem Khan and others had also paid the money. Their modus operandi is of making money from shady means but keep making a hue and cry about corruption and other hazards. If their (PTI’s) accountability process was based on a justice system, it would have been effective. But unfortunately, they registered fake cases against people who are now emerging victorious by the grace of Almighty Allah.

You tend to overlook the mafias and thieves who belong to your inner circle. Rana Sanaullah told me on Wednesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan admitted to the ring road fraud. Now tell me, all of us are on the Exit Control List (ECL) but I want to ask the PM why the thieves who minted billions of rupees in scams and crises were not placed on ECL. PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif did not receive the same standards of justice from the country which is befitting for a premier. If such injustice continues to prevail in the country, no one would surrender before the law. The masses can only be expected to abide by the law when justice is uniform for everyone. Delaying tactics were used in the foreign funding case but after the revelations surfaced through a scrutiny committee report, it was confirmed that millions of dollars were contributed from offshore companies and individuals to the PTI coffers. They have been asking about money trail for years but they have been concealing the names of offshore companies which is a complete violation of the statements that Imran Khan has been making about his resources being transparent and legitimate.

You have been quite vocal about the State Bank of Pakistan amendment bill. What are your grievances with reference to that?

KMA: They are selling the State Bank of Pakistan. The government should remove the word ‘State’ from the bank’s title because it is not the bank of the state anymore and has become a branch of the International Monetary Fund. The State Bank governor has become more powerful than the prime minister. Unfortunately, it seems that my beloved country has become a colony of international financial institutions. The federal cabinet’s move of granting autonomy to the SBP is tantamount to surrendering the country’s sovereignty to international financial institutions…I fear that after the country’s economic sovereignty, its nuclear assets would be the next target for compromise

Senior PML-N leader and ex-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi recently stated that Shehbaz Sharif will be the party’s candidate for PM’s slot in the 2023 polls and Maryam Nawaz is not eligible for the premier’s slot? What is your stance?

KMA: Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s statement was based on ground realities and I endorse his statement because the potential candidate for prime minister’s position is Shehbaz Sharif, as per past practice of PML-N. However, there is no doubt Maryam is the future of the party and holds a respectable position therein. It must be kept in mind that when she launched her political career, her father Nawaz Sharif was undergoing extremely difficult circumstances. Her statements are always reflective of the ongoing situation, therefore, it is natural of her to react to her father’s ordeals.