• PML-N says Imran’s name was not in participants’ list
• PPP insists opposition leader should have taken them in confidence

ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry’s statement that Prime Minister Imran Khan skipped Thursday’s meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security because of opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif’s warning generated a controversy in the political circles on Friday.

Defending the prime minister against the opposition’s criticism of his absence from the meeting, Mr Chaudhry said in a statement that Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had told the National Assembly Speaker that he would boycott the meeting if Mr Khan attended it.

However, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb rejected the minister’s claim, saying Mr Sharif had not sent any message to anyone regarding the meeting.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the second largest opposition party, asked why Mr Sharif had not taken the party into confidence if he had warned the speaker about his boycott if the PM joined the meeting. The PPP also questioned Mr Chaudhry why he had not informed the parliamentary committee about Mr Sharif’s warning when the absence of the prime minister was noticed by the panel.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Secretariat (NAS) issued an official press release claiming that the prime minister was willing to attend the meeting but he skipped the event due to some reservations shown by some opposition leaders.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Chaudhry said the prime minister wanted to attend the meeting but he was informed that Mr Sharif would boycott it if the prime minister turned up there.

He said after the opposition leader’s reservations, the prime minister was of the view that he had already taken briefing on national security and it did not make any difference if he did not attend the meeting.

Mr Chaudhry quoted the prime minister as saying “… it is better that the opposition leader also takes the briefing”.

The spokesman for National Assembly Secretariat (NAS) has clarified a news item being telecast on electronic media regarding non-participation of Prime Minister Khan in the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, saying that the news in question is factually incorrect.

The spokesman clarified that the PM was always willing to attend a meeting of the parliamentary committee and the only reason for his not coming to Thursday’s meeting was reservations conveyed to the NAS by some opposition leaders.

He further said the reservations of the opposition were conveyed to the prime minister who decided not to participate in the meeting to provide an opportunity to the opposition to take part in the meeting.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said Fawad Chaudhry was a “propaganda machine” that blatantly lied about Mr Sharif blocking the prime minister’s participation in the meeting.

Responding to Mr Chaudhry’s statement, the PML-N information secretary said the meeting was called by the NA speaker and Mr Sharif did not send any message to anyone regarding it. She asked the minister to furnish any proof of his claim that showed that Mr Sharif was the reason behind the prime minister’s absence from the all-important meeting.

She said Imran Khan’s name was not in the list of participants of the meeting sent to all participants so how could Mr Sharif have blocked someone who was not scheduled to attend the meeting.

The former information minister asked whether Mr Khan did not attend the meeting on Covid-19 because of Mr Shehbaz. “Did Imran ditch the meeting on Kashmir because of Shehbaz? Did he not participate in any such meeting on national security and interest because of Shehbaz? Did Shehbaz prohibit him from attending the meeting on consultation for choosing chairpersons of the National Commission on Status of Women and National Commission on Human Rights? Did Shehbaz stop Imran from attending the meeting held to pick members of the Election Commission of Pakistan?”

PPP response

PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi said if Mr Sharif had conveyed such a message to the speaker then he should have informed the PPP as well.

Mr Kundi said if Mr Chaudhry was aware of Mr Sharif’s message, he should have told the parliamentary committee about it during its meeting.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2021