• Fawad Chaudhry says his Sindh visit cancelled to reject impression Centre wanted to dislodge PPP govt
• PPP chairman sees lack of acumen in PTI

STRONG observations made by the chief justice of Pakistan in the fake bank accounts and money laundering case on Monday put the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on the back foot as it cancelled the much-hyped visit to Sindh of the federal information minister in which he was supposed to seek support for dislodging the Pakistan Peoples Party government in the province.

As CJP Mian Saqib Nisar declared in the morning that the Supreme Court would strike down any “unconstitutional” attempt to impose governor’s rule in the province, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told reporters in Karachi in the evening that, if permitted by Asif Zardari, his party could “dislodge” the PTI government within a week.

The turn of events caused Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold fresh discussions with his party leaders in a meeting held at the Prime Minister Office.

The meeting decided to shelve the two-day visit of Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry to Karachi as the CJP’s observations indicated that the PTI was making efforts to dislodge the PPP government.

However, sources said that despite suffering a setback the PTI-led federal government would stick to its plan to weaken the PPP government in Sindh by contacting other political groups as well as demanding resignation of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

As the CJP also took serious note of the travel ban imposed by the federal government on 172 persons named in the report of a joint investigation team probing the fake accounts and money laundering allegations, the government also decided to reconsider the issue in the federal cabinet meeting to be held on Wednesday (tomorrow).

Imran cancels minister’s visit to Karachi

“The prime minister cancelled my visit to Karachi to reject an impression that the Centre wanted to dislodge the PPP-led government in Sindh,” Information Minister Chaudhry told a press conference while giving details of PM Khan’s meeting on the Sindh situation.

“My visit to Karachi could further increase political temperature in the country and that was why the prime minister decided that I should not go there at this stage,” he added.

He said the anger shown by the CJP indicated as if the federal government wanted a change in the provincial set-up. “I cancelled my scheduled meeting with leaders of allied parties in Sindh only due to honour and respect of the chief justice,” he said.

The minister said the PTI government neither wanted to impose governor’s rule nor to dislodge the PPP government in Sindh. However, it was media that gave an impression that the PTI wanted to topple the provincial government.

However, he quickly added that a desire for change was coming out of the Sindh Assembly as many lawmakers wanted to get rid of the PPP-led government.

“We do not want to interfere in Sindh but stick to our demand that Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah should resign as he can influence the investigation into fake bank accounts and money laundering case,” he said.

In a veiled defence of the decision to put the name of the Sindh CM on the Exit Control List along with 171 others, Mr Chaudhry said it seemed to be awkward that the name of the incumbent CM was placed on ECL but there were examples in the country that a wanted ex-finance minister had escaped by becoming part of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s entourage.

“Ishaq Dar, former ambassador of Pakistan to the US Hussain Haqqani and former chairman of the SECP have left the country and did not return to avoid facing their cases,” he added.

However, the minister said that the federal government did not place any name on the ECL by its own, adding that the matter would be reconsidered in the next cabinet meeting.

“The JIT in its report has recommended 16 references against Asif Ali Zardari and company but the government will follow the directives of the Supreme Court in this regard. If the apex court wants filling of only one reference or all 16 references, we will follow its instructions,” he said.

PTI’s new strategy

According to a new plan, the provincial PTI leadership would contact various political groups, including factions of Jeay Sindh Tehreek, to put pressure for the change of the Sindh chief minister.

“It is less likely that the task will be handed over to any federal minister. The Sindh governor and PTI MPAs will contact nationalists in Sindh to put pressure and demand the CM’s resignation,” a PTI source said.

Without involving the federal government, these groups would hold press conferences and agitations to highlight their demand.

The PPP has 99 members and the PTI and its allies have 64 while the PTI required 18 more to prove its majority in the provincial assembly.

Bilawal says PPP can topple PTI govt

In Karachi, PPP chairman Mr Bhutto-Zardari claimed that his party could not only oust the PTI government but could also send the rulers behind bars.

He was talking to reporters after paying a visit to the residence of slain Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Ali Raza Abidi.

Referring to the PTI’s attempt to oust CM Shah and impose governor’s rule in the province, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said he knew they [PTI] lacked political acumen but now it had appeared that their maths was weak as well.

“We [PPP] have 99 MPAs in the Sindh Assembly. They will need to break about 49 to 50 MPAs to impose governor Raj,” he said, adding that the federal government could collapse any time as it had a meagre lead.

“But, if Zardari allows us, if Zardari indicates, we can dislodge their [the PTI’s] government within a week. They have a majority of only six seats in the Centre and an even smaller majority in Punjab. If Zardari allows us, we can dislodge them and send them behind bars,” he said.

About the JIT report, he termed it a work of ‘fiction’, alleging that the government had influenced the report against the PPP leadership.

The JIT, he said, was just a pretext and the Sindh government was the real target. The PPP would fight against the conspiracy on the legal front, he said.

He said that the PTI wanted to get the chief minister in Sindh changed but the people of Sindh would not let it happen. “We will fight the cases in courts. Fake cases had been lodged against Zardari in the past as well. He was acquitted then, he will be acquitted again,” he said.

Commenting on his statement, Information Minister Chaudhry said: “If your [Bilawal] father could not topple our government than how can you?”

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2019