ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the rise of “religious extremist” political parties such as the recently unbanned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam would ultimately harm the country, adding that the ruling PTI was the only “national party” in the country.

The minister expressed these views while speaking to the media after a meeting of the federal cabinet, where he said that the recently concluded local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not come under discussion.

Fawad was speaking to media a day after the PTI faced a major upset in the first phase of KP local body polls, while the JUI-F bagged the highest number of mayor/chairman seats.

“Today was a meeting of a the federal cabinet, not a meeting of the PTI’s core committee. We will talk about this at a meeting for the core committee,” he said when asked about his concerns over the results of the polls.

When the reporters continued to probe him, the minister said that the reason for the ruling party’s failure in the polls was “clear”.

“When three to four candidates from the same party contest the polls in the same constituency, then they will [inevitably] lose the election. This is what happened in most of the areas,” he said, adding that the party’s MNAs and MPAs were also not happy.

“Each constituency needs to be managed, and we lost most of the contests due to these management issues,” he said.

However, this just proves that the PTI is a national party, he said, adding that the rest were merely “local parties”. “If the PTI did not exist then there would be no national party in the country.”

Talking about the JUI-F, he said that the party had ruined the education and finance sectors in KP in 2002. “It is unfortunate that, due to our mistakes, such a political party has been noticed [by the people],” he said.

He said that the rise of “religious extremist parties” such as the TLP and JUI-F would ultimately harm the country.

The minister said that the PML-N and the PPP no longer had any standing in the political arena, reiterating that the PTI was the only national party.

Pakistan will be affected if the PTI faces setbacks and such “political dwarfs” get the chance to step into the limelight, he said, adding that PTI leaders needed to strengthen party chief Imran Khan. “Without Imran Khan, politics in Pakistan will scatter into pieces.”

He expressed the hope that the party’s leadership will learn from the current situation.

Responding to another question from a reporter, he said that he was “disappointed” at the fact that the JUI-F had bagged the highest number of seats in the first phase of local government elections in KP.

“Such parties are a sign of a retrogressive society and a sign that things in the country are not fine. It is not a reassuring thing for society when people who are against women’s rights, against [basic] freedoms […] come into power,” he said.

The minister added that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s coming into power was “unfortunate”.

PM Imran pins blame on ‘wrong candidate selection’

Earlier today, PM Imran said his party “made mistakes” as he pinned the blame of a lacklustre poll performance on “wrong candidate selection”.

To make sure the mistakes are not repeated, the prime minister said, he would “personally oversee” the party strategy for the second phase of the elections scheduled to be held next month.

“PTI made mistakes in [the] first phase of KP LG elections and paid the price,” he tweeted. “Wrong candidate selection was a major cause.

“From now on I will personally be overseeing PTI’s LG election strategy in [the] second phase of KP LG elections & LG elections across Pakistan.”

The information minister had also urged PTI leadership and workers to set aside their differences and unite under PM Imran’s leadership.

“If the PTI is weakened at this time then the country will fall to the wolves,” Chaudhry tweeted.