ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday stressed the need of a “joint voice” to highlight the “positive aspects of the country” before the world.
The message came after the ISPR spokesman’s press conference. Iqbal told a private TV channel that Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor’s earlier comment that “the country’s economic health, if not bad, was not good either” had hurt him. “The civilian and military leadership should now provide some hope to the nation. We need to convert our disappointment into hope,” he said.
The minister said the country’s economy had been brought back on track thanks to “unity within the country”. “We now need to restore the trust of the world,” he added.
Earlier, Iqbal had said on Friday that Pakistan’s economy was stable after the ISPR chief implied that the economy had not been doing spectacularly.
“Irresponsible statements will bring disrepute to the country,” Iqbal had said. On Saturday, Maj Gen Ghafoor expressed disappointment over the interior minister’s statement.
“Democracy has nothing to fear from the Pakistan Army,” he assured, but warned that the democratic process may flounder if the requisites of a democracy were ignored.
Published in Daily Times, October 15th 2017.
