Islamabad [Pakistan]. December 1 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is in jail along with other key leaders, on Saturday called for national reconciliation and national consensus to achieve political stability in Pakistan, Dawn reported.
Speaking to reporters after appearing in an anti-terrorism court in Lahore, Qureshi expressed hope that politically astute people in all political parties would play a part for holding national dialogue as the ban on PTI will only complicate the situation.
Qureshi also urged that he be given an opportunity to meet PTI founder Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala Jail, so that he could express his views about national reconciliation and national consensus, according to Dawn report.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s remarks came amid reports that the federal government was considering imposing a ban on Imran Khan-founded party and a governor’s rule in the PTI-run Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to repeated ‘onslaughts’ by the former ruling party on Islamabad.
He warned that crushing PTI would not be interest of Pakistan and described the plan to impose ban on his party and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “sheer absurdity.”
PTI vice chairman said that political leadership was not aware about the consequences of taking such a decision, adding that Balochistan was facing insurgency, terrorism was rising in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh was against the federal government’s stance regarding the water issue.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government’s plan to impose the governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be tantamount to desecrating the will of the people that gave a “two-thirds majority” to Imran Khan-founded party.
He said, “I do hope that the politically savvy people in the PML-N will oppose the idea of imposing the governor’s rule and warn their leadership that it will be a political and historical blunder,” Dawn reported.
Expressing his views on tabling of a resolution in the Punjab Assembly seeking to ban the PTI, he thanked Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for opposing the resolution. He expressed gratitude to other political parties, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), the Jamaat-i-Islami, and the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) for opposing a similar resolution in the Balochistan Assembly.
He expressed surprise over Awami National Party president Aimal Wali Khan’s support for proscribing PTI, Dawn reported. He asked, “Can the government attain economic stability without political stability or achieve IMF [funding]?”
Qureshi said, “You can attain stability through authoritarian rule but it will not be sustainable. You can get desired results through election engineering but will fail to get legitimacy.” He praised JUI-F president Maulana Fazlur Rehman for his statement, wherein called “illegitimate and fake” results of the general elections held on February 8 “basis problem.”
He urged saner people to think that the apex court’s full court decision on the PTI reserved seats case was not put in place. He also prayed for the PTI workers, who died during protests at D-Chowk on November 26, and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
Meanwhile, PTI Punjab President Yasmin Rashid condemned the killing of innocent protesters. Speaking to reporters at the ATC, she said, “The government killed Pakistani kids,” Dawn reported.
She said, “Never such fascism was unleashed in Pakistan” and added that everyone involved would be held accountable here and hereafter.” She said PTI during its government did not stop Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Maryam Nawaz and Maulana Fazlur Rehman from holding long marches. (ANI)
