How could corrupt, jailed leaders be invited to dinner: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Information minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said that the opposition leaders facing corruption charges or imprisoned will not be invited to dinner hosted in honour of Saudi crown prince Muhammad bin Salman .

Fawad Chaudhry said in a tweet that absence of seniors opposition in the country was tantamount to a political crises. He said that remaining opposition leaders were not of that caliber to be invited to the dinner.

اپوزیشن رہنماؤں کو عشائیے پر کیا بلائیں ان کے مرکزی رہنما بدعنوانی کے مقدموں میں یاجیل ہیں یا ضمانتوں پر ہیں یا شامل تفتیش ہیں جو باقی ہیں وہ اس قد کے ہی نہیں ، انھیں بلانا نہ بلانا برابر ہے۔۔۔ سنجیدہ اپوزیشن کا نہ ہونا ایک سیاسی بحران ہے آگے جا کے کوئ نئ لیڈرشپ ابھرے تو ابھرے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) February 16, 2019

Sources said that opposition leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari have not been invited to the dinner.

It is pertinent to mention here that Nawaz Sharif is in police custody, Zardari is facing an investigation into the fake bank accounts case, while Shehbaz is facing a case of alleged misuse of power as Punjab former chief minister in awarding contract of a housing scheme.

Earlier, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman will arrive in Pakistan on Feb 17, said Foreign Office on February 15.

In a statement, it had said the Saudi crown prince would now be visiting Islamabad from Feb 17 to 18. However, the visit programme remains unchanged.

Earlier, the Saudi crown prince was scheduled to reach Islamabad on a two-day visit on Saturday evening (Feb 16).