• Asserts parliament had no basis to pass 26th amendment
• Claims consensus draft was changed at cabinet meeting
• Fawad urges Bushra Bibi, Aleema Khan to take charge of party

LAHORE: Leader of Opposi­tion in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan on Monday reiterated the PTI’s call for fresh elections in the country, saying the demand was absolutely legitimate and just.

Speaking to media persons outside the anti-terrorism court, Mr Khan rejected the passage of the 26th amendment from parliament as flawed. He was of the view that since parliament itself was allegedly illegitimate and came into being on the basis of Form-47 it cannot pass any legislation.

He pointed out that Senate was incomplete as there was no representation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the house.

The opposition leader alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan had committed fraud while denying women and minorities’ reserved seats to the PTI. He expressed the hope that Chief Just­ice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi would do justice in all cases without any discrimination. “The CJP must take decisions according to law and fulfil his duties with integrity,” he said.

Mr Khan denounced the working of the special committee formed to identify those behind the picking of PTI legislators, adding that intelligence agencies were responsible for that.

However, he said, “The special committee put its core responsibility aside and started working on the draft of a constitutional amendment”.

He claimed that special committee head Khurshid Shah did not know that the draft agreed to by the committee had been changed at the federal cabinet meeting. “The federal cabinet and the Form-47 parliament betrayed the special committee.”

Answering a question, he said Zain Qureshi had not voted for the constitutional amendment in the National Assembly. However, he added, some MNAs of PTI were served show-cause notices and party’s political and core committees would decide their fate after receiving their reply.

To another question, Mr Khan said that PTI as part of Tehreek Tahufuz-i-Aien along with other opposition parties, including the JUI-F, was working on various issues because this “fake government” could not steer the country out of crises.

He alleged that the incumbent government was busy spending lavishly for its comfort and had no vision of controlling inflation, poverty alleviation and creating jobs.

The opposition leader alleged that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was involved in the Rs450 billion wheat scandal but the government committee conveniently exonerated him. Now, he said, sugar was being exported and Pa­­kistanis were compelled to buy the commodity at higher rates.

Mr Khan lamented that the country was reeling under the chaos as the government had failed to stop smuggling through Balochistan, take action against dacoits in the katcha area and improve its performance in protecting border areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He rebuffed media reports about a forward bloc in the party and asserted, “there is no forward bloc in PTI but one bloc which is led by Imran Khan”.

Fawad assails PTI leaders

Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry criticised PTI leaders, urging Bushra Bibi and Aleema Khan to step into politics to save the party. He said PTI leaders rarely leave KP House in Islamabad.

Speaking to media persons out­side the ATC after getting extension in his pre-arrest bail in multiple May 9 cases, he questioned if any party leader had ever visited incarcerated leaders Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Shah Meh­­mood Qureshi, Mian Meh­moodur Rasheed, Dr Yasmin Rashid and Senator Ejaz Chaudhry.

He said Salman Akram Raja and Raoof Hassan were not facing any tough times and only enjoying coffee in the KP House. He claimed that Imran Khan was not even being informed about the current events.

The ex-minister expressed frustration about his constant court appearances, wondering if the PTI members were terrorists and whether the people were voting for terrorists.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2024