Islamabad, Nov 5: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has expressed his helplessness to “impart any wisdom” to his Interior Minister, saying “Rehman Baba” is beyond his control.
Gilani made the remarks while interacting with a group of reporters last night when he was asked about the wisdom behind Rehman Malik's statement that Pakistan would send an investigation team to Britain to probe the spot-fixing affair in which three Pakistani cricketers have already been convicted by a London court.
The Premier was quoted by The News daily as saying at his home in Lahore that nobody could question the wisdom of “Rehman Baba” as he “is beyond our control”.
In several recent interactions with the media, Gilani has referred to the Interior Minister as Rehman Baba. Gilani said the three players - former cricket captain Salman Butt, Muhammad Amir and Muhammad Asif - had brought a bad name to Pakistan, and everybody, including himself, was “badly hurt” by the spot-fixing scandal.
During an interaction with Parliamentarians last month, Gilani had spoken out about Interior Minister Malik's desire to be in the headlines.
Gilani had contended that this desire was behind Malik's claim that al-Qaeda was plotting to kidnap Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chief of the ruling Pakistan People's Party. The Prime Minister had expressed his “serious reservations” at Malik's claim about uncovering a plot by al-Qaeda and Taliban to kidnap Bilawal.
“I really cannot understand what prompted Mr Malik to pass such a statement to the media on a very sensitive issue. His only problem is that he always wants to be in headlines,” Gilani was quoted as saying by an unnamed aide.
