ISLAMABAD/MULTAN: The opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has said that it will continue to stick to its demand for the issuance of production orders of two arrested MNAs from tribal areas — Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir — by the National Assembly speaker.

On the other hand, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the production orders of the two MNAs “can be issued as per law” while raising questions over patriotism of the duo.

Read: Bilawal reiterates demand for production orders for MNAs Mohsin Dawar, Ali Wazir

In a statement issued by the PPP’s Central Media Office in Islamabad on Sunday, the party’s secretary general Nayyar Bokhari asked National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to fulfil his “responsibility” as a custodian of the house and issue the production orders of the two MNAs who had been arrested on the charge of instigating an attack on an army check post in North Waziristan last month.

Mr Bokhari said the PPP believed in the supremacy of the constitution and rule of law. He said the two MNAs were elected representatives of the people and they should be allowed to come to the house to apprise the parliament of their viewpoint on the Waziristan incident.

Foreign minister questions patriotism of the two legislators

The PPP leader said there would be no compromise on national security, but the two MNAs should be provided an opportunity to clarify their position.

Mr Bokhari said the nation was surprised over the silence of Prime Minister Imran Khan on such an important matter. He said the statements from the Inter-Service Public Relations showed that the government had failed in fulfilling its responsibilities.

The PPP leader said those violating the laws should be punished but “setting up of own courts” and political point scoring was inappropriate.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Multan, Foreign Minister Qureshi, however, questioned the patriotism of the two MNAs.

“If they invite foreign forces to intervene in internal matters of the country, is it patriotism? They also attacked an army check post. Is it patriotism?” he asked.

Mr Qureshi said he had invited the opposition to participate in the preparation of the budget while keeping in view the country’s resources and expenditures.

“Under the circumstances the government was handed over to us, moving forward is difficult. Our utmost efforts are to put minimum burden on the poor in the coming budget,” he said.

On the recent decision of the government to file references against two judges of the superior courts, Mr Qureshi, who is also vice-chairman of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, said that his party believed in independence of judiciary and supremacy of law.

“Imran Khan himself has struggled for independence of judiciary. All judges are respectable for us. But if something has surfaced regarding the judges, they can explain their position in the Supreme Judicial Council,” he said.

The foreign minister said there were some signs that relations between Pakistan and India were moving towards improvement. He said there was hope that the ice between Pakistan and India could melt after installation of new government in India.

He said Pakistan had already invited the new Indian government for dialogue as it was the only way to resolve the issues.

He said Pakistan had closed its airspace during recent Pak-India tension and now India had expressed its willingness to open its airspace first and “we have responded positively”.

Mr Qureshi warned that a war between America and Iran could affect the entire region. He said Pakistan had friendly ties with Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries and believed that the region could not afford a war.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2019