President PPP Punjab Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo demanded of the government to withdraw Article 245, as all political parties including civil society have rejected it altogether. He said the situation in Islamabad cannot be different from Quetta and Peshawar but the government preferred to invoke Article 245 in Islamabad, which is not understandable.
He advised the government to lessen its political problems by removing the imposition of Article 245 from Islamabad, as it would direct impact on fundamental rights of citizens. He said the people have sacrificed to protect their fundamental rights and any move to suspend these rights would prove costlier to the government.
Further, he has also apprehended a direct clash between the protestors and Pakistan Army, which may end up on serious consequences. He said deployment of army in Islamabad is a clear indication that the government and law enforcement agencies have failed to provide protection to the people of Pakistan, which tantamount to incapability of the government.
Wattoo said there is no doubt that the government took this decision in a hurry, as the right forum for all such decisions should be none other than the parliament. There is a need of collective ownership of all political parties to any such decision and a solo flight of the government will be unacceptable.
He apprehended that an effort of solo flight may end up on crash landing, as deviation from consultation leads to deviation from the democratic traditions. He deplored that the government is avoiding consultation on important national issues and not taking the political leadership into confidence. It is resulting into political tension, detrimental to democracy. He said the government had neither taking the political leadership into confidence before the Waziristan operation nor updating it on day to day developments.