Caretaker Anwaarul Haq Kakar has brushed off criticism from US lawmakers regarding the general elections and said that it is “not that big a deal”.
He said Pakistan had a huge diaspora in the United States, some of whom had “quite an active role in domestic politics and have their own inclinations towards domestic politics here so at times it is quite easy for you to settle there, participate in local fundraising and you’ll be able to influence one, two or a few members of US Congress”.
Kakar said US Congress members did not “represent the gospel truth” and were not the “pedestal of do [and] does [not]”.
He said there were other important issues for them to comment on.
PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that her party has not finalised a candidate for premiership thus far, adding that communication with “coalition partners” was ongoing and it will be decided with their consultation.
Speaking to Geo News, Aurangzeb said a video message released by party leader Khawaja Asif was his personal opinion and did not reflect the views of the party.
Although she did not specifically mention which video message she was referring to, Asif had told Samaa TV that Nawaz Sharif would not be PML-N’s prime ministerial candidate and instead his brother Shehbaz was the party’s choice/.
“Even he said at the end of his video that talks with coalition partners are still under way,” Aurangzeb said. She also denied rumours regarding a supposed power-sharing formula, saying an agreement had been made in principle to move forward together.