Onslaught on Islamabad to be dealt with iron hand, says coalition govt

ISLAMABAD    -   The ruling coalition govern­ment has unanimously de­cided not to allow PTI long march towards the federal capital and said that full force will be used stop the protes­tors outside the city. The deci­sion was taken during a meet­ing of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) top leader­ship with Prime Minister She­hbaz Sharif in the chair here Wednesday night. 

The meeting was attend­ed by coalition parties lead­ers, however, PPP was rep­resented by Federal Minister Sherry Rahman. During the meeting, the overall political situation in the country came under discussion with refer­ence to the PTI long march announced by the PTI, though the final date of the long march is yet to be decided. 

Sources told The nation that the PDM leadership de­cided not to allow PTI long march and said Imran Khan would not be allowed to take law into his hands. During the meeting, Finance Minis­ter Ishaq Dar told the meeting about the economic situation of the country and said the fears of economic default of the country are no more now.

The prime minister also took the meeting into confi­dence about his participation in the SCO summit and his partici­pation in United Nations Gener­al assembly last month. 

Interior Minister Rana Sanaul­lah briefed the meeting about the steps being taken to stop the PTI long march and said all measures are in place to tack­le the protestors. Also, the gov­ernment has asked the provin­cial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to desist from becoming facilitators of PTI Chairman Imran Khan for creating a chaotic situation in the country.

In an official press release, the government also warned them that they would have to face the law in case they attempt to vio­late the Constitution.

The meeting strongly con­demned the attacks on the na­tional institutions and warned that anyone who would try to cross the red line, would face the resistance of 220 million people of the country and the strength of law.

“The one who tried to side­track the institutions is a rene­gade, conspirator and mischie­vous”, the meeting agreed and opined that the person(s) who had been instigating the institu­tions to breach the Constitution was hell-bent upon pushing Pa­kistan into serious crisis.

To legally bridle such a viola­tor of the Constitution was a re­quirement of the Constitution, it was added. The meeting offered Fateha for the departed souls and expressed condolences with the bereaved families who lost their near and dear ones in the historic floods that devas­tated parts of the country after June 14.

The prime minister expressed his satisfaction over the consti­tution of the National Flood Re­sponse and Coordination Center as a prompt step and the subse­quent rescue, relief and rehabil­itation efforts of the flood-af­fected people.

The meeting appreciated the leading role, passion, focus and the untiring efforts of the prime minister in this regard. They also lauded the role of feder­al, provincial governments and institutions, especially Army, Navy and Air Force for their role in the natural catastrophe.

The participants also ac­knowledged the donations and humanitarian assistance pro­vided by the philanthropists during the period.

Federal Minister for Econom­ic Affairs Senator Ishaq Dar ap­prised the meeting of the talks with the IMF and other financial institutions and the steps taken for the revival of the economy.

He said that during the previ­ous government’s four years of economic disastrous policies, the national economy did not witness any positive indicator.

The debt of Rs20,000 billion taken during the previous gov­ernment’s tenure had pushed the country on the verge of be­ing declared as default, he add­ed. He said the rupee had gained against US dollar during the last Monday and expressed the hope that US dollar would trade be­low Rs200.

Sharing further details, he said during their previous rule, inflation was recorded at 3 per­cent whereas the growth rate was hovering around 6.3 per­cent.Ishaq Dar stressed upon pursuance of a robust and con­tinuity of economic discipline for the achievement of econom­ic stability.

The meeting expressed its con­fidence in the measures of the fi­nance minister and appreciated his performance. They also de­cided to cut down the prices of power and stressed upon all the possible and immediate mea­sures to reduce the burden on the masses which were put by the previous regime.

The meeting also expressed its deep concern over the audio leaks of the former prime min­ister over the diplomatic cipher and strongly condemned the grave ploy to play with the na­tional solidarity and the nation­al interests.

In this connection, the meet­ing also fully endorsed and sup­ported the cabinet’s decisions and the government’s steps of September 30.

They called for immediate completion of the FIA probe into the serious crimes com­mitted against the State and the national interests and proceed against the respondent in accor­dance with the law.