March deadline
According to Daily Express (12 December 2019), Qamar Zaman Kaira of the PPP predicted that by March, the current government would go home (ghar chali jaye gi). He dismissed claims of Governor Rule being imposed on Sindh as mere threats (ye sirf dhamkian hein).
Exit Control in Naya Pakistan
Interior Minister Ijaz Shah, according to Daily Dunya (13 December 2019), expressed his position that there was no justification (jawaz) for removing Maryam Nawaz from the Exit Control List (ECL). He went on to say that former strongman General (retd) Pervez Musharraf must have a chance to defend himself.
Sheikh Rasheed’s sentiments
Federal railways minister Sheikh Rasheed, according to Daily Jang (13 December 2019), wishes that Imran Khan did not watch the media as much as he currently does (meri khwahish hai Imran Khan ko itna media nahin dekhna chahiye). He went on to opine that politics had become merciless (be-rehm) and that the general level of thinking had declined (hamari soch ka mayar girr gya hai).
Naya Chohan
Punjab’s Minister for Information Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan was quoted by Daily Dunya (14 December 2019) as saying that the media and the people would find him a different minister this time around – since he had learned a lot from his previous stint in this ministry.
Foreign relations in Naya Pakistan
Daily Jang (14 December 2019) reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been unaware of even the existence of any plans for Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Saudi Arabia. An official was quoted as saying that ideally such information ought to reach the media from the Ministry, but unfortunately it had to rely on media reports itself.
Keep the faith
Kashmir affairs minister Ali Amin Gandapur was quoted by Daily Jang (15 December 2019) as saying that he had faith that the Kashmir dispute would be resolved during the tenure of the current government (mera eeman hai issi hakoomat mein Kashmir ka masla hall hoga).