LAHORE: Federal law and information minister Ali Zafar has said the foreign journalists during election day would be monitored to know whether they were focusing on the elections or trying to indulge in ‘other things’.
Speaking to media in Lahore, he said the journalists and international observers would be allowed to monitor the July 25 elections. He informed that the government had requested the ECP that local journalists should be allowed access to polling stations unlike the by-elections.
He also reiterated that general elections will be held on time.
He also made it clear that ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz will be arrested on their arrival at any airport in Pakistan in compliance of the accountability court directives.
The minister said government had no mandate to interfere in the state institutions’ working or criticise their decisions, he said, adding that anybody having reservations against any court judgment should file an appeal.
He stated that Sharif and his daughter Maryam will be arrested upon arrival at airport if they didn’t get bail from the court.
About the construction of dams for water storage, the minister said a 1965 report had suggested that Pakistan should have constructed 14 to 20 dams. He said the country needed reservoirs to store water and dams to generate power. “Not constructing dams is tantamount to throwing diamonds in the sea,” he maintained.
