Nawaz Sharif will never return to Pakistan on his own, says information minister

Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Imran Khan-led government would bring back former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the country as he would never return himself, insisting that the opposition was incapable of toppling the present set-up led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Speaking at a joint press conference with National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf after a meeting of the federal cabinet, the Minister said: "Nawaz Sharif will never return home voluntarily, rather the government will bring him back once the agreement with the UK government is finalised."

The recent statement of former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq that he was going to London to bring the former premier back had gotten the Sharif family worried, Chaudhry said, adding that the government had finalised matters with the UK regarding the return.

"The opposition parties cannot overthrow the present democratically elected government with their so-called protest movement," he said, claiming that only Prime Minister Imran Khan could act as the real opposition, Dawn news quoted Chaudhry as saying.

"Real leadership is required for agitation in politics, which the opposition lacks," the Minister said, adding that the opposition leaders were giving false hopes to their party workers, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

When pointed out that Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had given a call for long march which he claimed would lead to the fall of the PTI government, the Minister said the Maulana had been giving such calls for the last three years.