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• Attorney General has been asked to file an appeal against Shehbaz Sharif in the Lahore High Court
• Initial investigations suggest all deaths in Murree happened due to suffocation
• Government to develop new tourists spots, upgrade existing ones
• New housing schemes for overseas Pakistanis announced
• No lockdown is being enforced

The federal government has decided to take PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif to court. 

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that this is being done because Nawaz Sharif has failed to return to Pakistan. “The attorney general will file an appeal asking the court to order Shehbaz to bring his brother back. If not, then he should be disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 for submitting a fake affidavit,” he said. 

Nawaz Sharif committed fraud with this country when he left Pakistan. He has been in the United Kingdom for 17 months and has not seen a doctor since then, he said. 

The reports he sent from the UK have been rejected by the Punjab government. 

Deaths in Murree 

Speaking about tourist death in Murree, Fawad Chaudhry said that 22 people died in five cars due to suffocation and that all deaths happened between Kuldana and Barian. 

“During the snowstorm, trees fell and blocked the roads. It resulted in a traffic jam and several cars got stuck,” he said. 

“Some people left their cars and walked but many people turned on their car heaters and decided to spend the night there. As a result, carbon monoxide filled their cars causing these deaths.” 

Chaudhry said that since it was a single road, machinery to clear snow couldn’t reach the spot and the snowstorm made it difficult to reach by helicopter. 

He emphasised that a revolution of local Tourism is underway in Pakistan and local administrations need to be prepared for it. 

 “The facilities [in Murree] have not been upgraded since the colonial era. Since Independence, no new tourism spots have been developed.” 

Only the PTI government focused on tourism and identified 13 new tourism spots which are being developed, he maintained.  

He confirmed the appointment of Azam Jamil as Special Assistant to PM on tourism. Jamil will also head a tourism coordination committee to organise tourism. 

No chances of any lockdown

Fawad Chaudhry said that although Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity rate has doubled, the government is not considering a lockdown. 

“It is our resolve to not implement a lockdown. All news regarding closures of schools and business is baseless.”  

EVM for Islamabad local bodies polls

The Election Commission of Pakistan has asked the government to provide it with electronic voting machines (EVMs) before the Islamabad local bodies polls on April 15. 

Housing scheme for overseas Pakistanis 

The government is building a housing project in Islamabad for overseas Pakistanis. The project will have 600 apartments overlooking the Rawal Dam. 

“Overseas Pakistanis who have invested money in Roshan Digital Accounts will be able to buy these apartments,” said Chaudhry.