ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday said that the PTI government would make public details of its secret agreement with recently de-proscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in next seven to 10 day.

“Whatever their (TLP) matters have been decided, (their details) will come out” in next few days and “these will be positive,” the minister said while talking to reporters here after attending the family gala organized by Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP). 

On October 31, the government had reached an agreement with the then banned TLP that ended over a week-long violence in the largest populated Punjab province of the country leaving at least seven policemen dead and hundreds injured.  

The religious group had launched violent protest long march to Islamabad seeking release of its chief Saad Hussain Rizvi and expulsion of French ambassador to Islamabad. 

Mufti Munibur Rehman, the chief negotiator between the government and the TLP, while making the announcement of the peace deal had not shared any of its contents only saying that the details of the agreement would be made public at an “appropriate time”. 

The interior minister in his press talk said that he was not part of the final agreement as he had been stressing from the day one that Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Punjab government should negotiate with the religious party and Ministry of Interior had nothing to do with it. He further said that hat he had communicated the same to TLP chief Rizvi but had been part of earlier talks process on the latter’s insistence. 

About the demand of other proscribed organizations to de-proscribe them, Sheikh Rashid said that there were now 78 outlawed outfits in the country. He added that the interior ministry had proscribed the TLP on the recommendation of Punjab government and after it withdrew its decision, a summary was sent to the cabinet that revoked the proscription of TLP.

About the meeting of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) president Maulana Fazlur Rehman with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, he said that the opposition would now take six months for a warmup to initiate an anti-government movement. He said that the government has already completed its three and half years in power. “The best time for them (opposition) either to hold a sit-in or launch an anti-government movement was when Fazlur Rehman had come to Islamabad for the first time (in November 2019),” he said and added, “Now they will tire themselves out.” 

Talking about the reservations expressed by the allies of the federal government over ruling PTI, the minister dismissed reports that allies were upset with the government over some issues. He said that political parties try to ensure that their demands are met whenever the government is “facing some issue.” 

Responding to a question, Sheikh Rashid, who is the chief his own political party Awami Muslim League, said that his party stood by Prime Minister Imran Khan and supported his plan of introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next elections. “I support his view that the country had been facing allegations of rigging in every election since 1970,” he said. But he said that the government should review its plan of introduction of internet-based voting for overseas Pakistanis. There is no issue if overseas Pakistanis are given the right to vote through ballot because internet can create problems for the election results, he said. 

He said that America had in the past alleged Russia for cyber-attacks during the 2016 US elections.

He said that the whole government was aware of the fact that it was facing only one problem and that was of inflation and they have to decrease it. He said that PM Imran Khan’s government was facing no threat and would complete its five-year tenure. He also said that opposition was only campaigning for the next elections. “It is the right of opposition to hold protest rallies (against the government) but they are late now.” 

The minister said that the names of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif and former principal secretary to prime minister Fawad Hasan Fawad were already on the Exit Control List (ECL). They have not submitted an application to exclude their names from the no-fly list, he added. He said that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had sent another case 20 days ago to put their names on ECL but they were already on the list.