LAHORE: Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the vice-chairman of the PTI, has tasked the government with fostering an atmosphere that is favorable to negotiations with his party.
Following his hearing before a Lahore Anti-Terrorism Court, the imprisoned PTI leader told reporters that a positive government response might open the door to communication with the party.
He restated PTI founder Imran Khan’s call for a judicial committee to look into the May 9 riots and punish only those responsible for the bloodshed.
In addition, he requested relief for himself and other PTI officials who have been incarcerated for more than a year, including Senator Ijaz Chaudhry, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, and Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed.
For the last 1.5 years, I have been incarcerated. If I’m found guilty, I should be penalized. If not, I’m entitled to redress,” Mr. Qureshi stated.
Separately, Mr. Qureshi said in a handwritten declaration that the existing government was unable to handle Pakistan’s problems.
According to the PTI vice-chairman, who is detained at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, “Pakistan today is fragile and needs careful handling.”
The leadership necessary to save the nation from its political and economic predicament had not been supplied by the federal coalition government.
Since Nawaz Sharif “had always remained in the hands of PML-N leadership,” he asserted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was “a follower and not a leader.”
In a similar vein, he said that although President Asif Ali Zardari led the group that represented the PPP in parliament, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari served as its chairman.
“Mr. Zardari is still the party’s decision-maker, and his word is final,” he declared.
Regardless of the effects on regular Pakistanis, he noted, “Our economic managers have failed to develop a homegrown solution to our economic challenges and keep following the agreements negotiated with the IMF.”
Mr. Qurehsi claimed that although there was ample proof of insurgency in Balochistan, the political establishment had not identified individuals who were inciting the conflict.
Despite being in power for ten months, the federal government was only discussing National Action Plan 2.0, despite the PTI vice chairman expressing regret that terrorist activities were increasing once more.
He claimed that new developments on Punjab’s Indus River were causing protests in Sindh.
However, the federal government was “unwilling” to call a Council of Common Interests meeting.
According to him, the federal government was discussing governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without understanding that doing so would just make the province’s already complicated position worse and further alienate its citizens.
According to Mr. Qureshi, police were identifying Pakhtuns and making arrests after looking through their identification documents.
“Pakhtuns are being arrested and [racially] profiled by the government,” he claimed.
He claimed that there were rumors that PTI would be banned and cautioned that this would be a “historic blunder.”
The support for PTI in Azad Jammu Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, and all four federating units is being “underestimated” by the federal government.
The founder of the PTI has a “large following among Pakistanis living abroad.” He claimed that on November 24, Pakistanis living abroad demonstrated in more than 30 nations. “We cannot afford to alienate our diaspora, who are our strength.”
Saif criticizes MPC
In the meantime, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has come under fire from Barrister Saif, the chief minister’s information adviser, for hosting a multi-party meeting on the province’s problems.
Mr. Saif cautioned the governor “not to violate his constitutional limits,” according to media sources.
“The MPC is the elected government’s mandate, not the governor’s,” Dr. Saif said.
In a statement, Mr. Saif stated that Governor Kundi should not function in a manner akin to that of the province’s chief executive since the Constitution forbids him from doing so.
He cautioned the governor against attempting to take over as chief executive and to stick to his constitutional duties.
Dr. Saif referred to the MPC, which brought together different political factions, as a gathering of parties that the province had rejected. Undermining the ruling PTI was a “failed attempt to score political points.”
