| Vows PTI will defeat no-trust motion against PM in ‘democratic, political manner’ | Interior minister’s proposal for Governor’s rule in Sindh rejected | Fawad says a presidential reference will be filed in SC on Monday over ‘horse-trading’

ISLAMABAD   -   Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf senior leader and Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi Friday clarified that the federal government had no intention to impose Governor’s rule in the Sindh province.

Qureshi stated this while addressing a press conference along with federal ministers Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry after the PTI’s political committee meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Qureshi’s statement comes one day after the federal interior minister suggested Governor’s rule in the Sindh province. “The participants held consultations on the issue of no-confidence motion, and it was decided that the party would face the move and defeat the opponents,” the minister said.

Qureshi also said speculations were made about the government’s allies, but he had been consistently saying that they would not leave the PTI. “I know the Chaudhrys. They will not make an emotional decision rather they will take political decisions as they know how much room the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has for them.”

The PML-N, he said, created hurdles in the way of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) in 2018 and as it (PML-N) had majority in Punjab, it would remove the PML-Q from power whenever it wanted.

Likewise, he said, everybody knew the treatment meted out to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement by the Pakistan Peoples Party in Sindh. Qureshi said those, who were elected on the symbol of “bat” and were sitting in the Sindh House, knew the requirements of law and the Constitution.

The PML-N had never fulfilled the promises it made with the people for the award of tickets, he said, adding he would ask his colleagues not to sit in the lap of political opponents and look at the situation coolly.

The Political Committee, he said, observed that if despite the appeals, any member deserted the party he / she would be issued a show-cause notice. “There is no room for minus one in the PTI,” he said, adding the PPP and the PML-N had never agreed to ‘minus one’ in their party.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed the belief that all allies will not leave the government and they will take political decision. He said PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi hails from a political family and he cannot trust PML-N, which has always created hurdles in his way. He said MQM will also go with the government as it is well aware of the disservice done by the PPP Government to the people of Karachi.

Shehbaz Sharif could not replace Nawaz Sharif, he said adding, Imran Khan was the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which had formed four governments at the federal and provincial levels. He said he was seeing that the winds of change were blowing in Sindh.

The foreign minister, however, urged the dissident MNAs, to rethink their decision as going against Imran Khan will ruin their political future. He said the government is ready to listen to their concerns. He, however, made it clear that no hurdle will be created in the way of parliamentarians, who want to go to the National Assembly to cast their votes.

He said the opposition should ponder over the situation in Afghanistan. India could not give a reason for accidental firing of a missile into Pakistan, he added.

Qureshi said the situation of Ukraine was affecting the world economies, and in that situation Pakistan could not afford political instability.

The PPP government used public resources for its party’s march from Karachi to Islamabad and the Federal Government did not create any hurdle in its way, he added.

It was also learnt that Prime Minister Imran Khan rejected the interior minister’s proposal for the imposition of Governor’s rule in Sindh and decided to tackle the situation at Sindh House in Islamabad in accordance with the law. Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the PTI political committee meeting at his Bani Gala residence on Friday.

The meeting was attended by federal Ministers including Asad Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, and Shafaqat Mehmood besides other senior party leaders. Sources told The Nation that Prime Minister Imran Khan said the PTI government would tackle the situation in accordance with law and would not take any step which may further increase political temperature.

The committee was briefed about the Sindh House where over 13 PTI MNAs are being kept captive.

The committee also examined the statements made by these party MNAs against party leadership and termed the entire activity by them as violation of the party discipline.

“It was decided that election commission would be approached by PTI for taking disciplinary action against them for breaking party discipline”, a source said. The political committee also reviewed the arrangements for the PTI power show planned for 27th March and decided not to postpone it.

The meeting also deliberated upon the session of the National Assembly and it was decided that opposition would not be allowed to disrupt the proceedings of the House and House would be run by the Speaker in accordance with rules of the procedure and conduct of the business.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain asked the opposition parties to release the parliamentarians “detained” at the Sindh House, Islamabad so that they could take their political decisions in a free manner.

 “All those [parliamentarians] imprisoned in the Sindh House under the [Sindh] police’s watch should be set free and allowed to take independent decisions,” he said while addressing a news conference.

He said discussions were underway in different circles that whether a parliamentarian, who was involved in horse trading, could cast a vote under the Article 63A of Constitution.

“To remove this confusion, we are approaching the Supreme Court to explain whether the Constitution allows horse-trading or not,” he said, adding a presidential reference in that regard would be filed in the SC on Monday. Instructions had been issued for preparing the reference.

The apex court’s advice would also be sought on whether those who were disqualified for defecting the party could contest the election again or were banned for the lifetime, he added.

Fawad said there would be two separate proceedings. On the one hand, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser would start the process for disqualification [of the PTI’s dissident MNAs], and on the other, the apex court would be requested for day-to-day hearings to get answers of the above mentioned questions.

He said the preparations for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s public gathering scheduled for March 27 at D-Chowk Islamabad were in full swing. It would be the biggest public meeting in the country’s history.

To a query, he said it was the prerogative of the speaker to when he convenes the NA session.

Also Fawad Hussain asked the opposition parties to respect the people’s mandate and refrain from playing with their sentiments. He, in a tweet, said the public anger would have to be faced if the Sindh House was made another ‘Changa Manga’.

As regards the gathering of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s workers at the Sindh House, he said as soon as the incident came into the knowledge of the party leadership, Secretary General Asad Umar urged them to leave the place and show patience and tolerance.