Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi categorically stated that his party "never was and never will be part of any grand plan to undermine democracy" as it believes in resolving prevailing political crisis through a dialogue. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif preferred to stay away from the House when the floor was given to Shah Memhood Qureshi.
-- Qureshi causes quite a stir;
-- PTI struggles to distance itself from Qadri;
-- Khursheed terms PTI MNAs' presence 'victory of parliament', takes a jibe on Fazl for showing 'double standards', asks govt MPs that they must not act as Porus's elephant cavalry;
-- ANP Senator sees conspiracy against 18th Amendment;
-- MQM hints at quitting assemblies, jeopardising efforts at crisis resolution
Qureshi denied that PTI is acting on any signal and stated they are making sincere efforts towards improving the electoral system and also requested other political parties to join their struggle. He further stated he is in the house to explain his party's viewpoint on the current situation and recounted various rounds of govt-PTI talks to resolve the impasse. He said that an understanding was reached between the two sides on "five and half points" and disagreement was on the resignation of Prime Minister.
Qureshi further stated that Imran Khan's struggle is not for himself or his party but for the future of the country. He added that it will be the failure of not an individual or a party but of all the political parties if they do not demonstrate required political maturity at this critical juncture that can turn the country either towards stability or grave turmoil.
Vice Chairman of PTI stated that after the 1970 election none of the elections was held in a transparent manner and 'blue-eyed' of the establishment were brought into power. Everyone knows about the forces behind formation of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), he said adding that Asghar Khan can unveil many names of 'real democrats'.
Qureshi said his party has great respect for Parliament and its workers cannot even think of disrespecting it, negating an impression about his party. He said that every party including PTI has complained about massive vote rigging in the 2013 election. Shah Mehmood said his party Chairman stated soon after the 2013 elections that if a vote audit in four constituencies was not carried out it would take to the streets as it strongly believed that the desired transparency in the election was missing. He said that an impression was also being created that PTI was responsible for 'third party' intervention which was totally baseless as Article 245 was invoked by the federal government despite opposition to its invocation by all parties. He accused the government of inviting 'third party' (Army) for mediation to resolve the political crisis, which he stated was also a violation of the Charter of Democracy (CoD).
He said an impression was being created that there was a grand plan to undermine democracy and PTI was part of it, saying that "PTI never was and never will be part of any grand plan to undermine democracy". He said he had requested Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief not to move towards the Parliament because his party considered it as "Political Kaaba". "All I could do was to request them and when they entered the premises of Parliament after teargas shelling by police to protect themselves, I requested them to leave the premises," he said adding that his party's parliamentarians were identified and targeted by the Islamabad and Punjab police. Qureshi stated that PTI believed in peaceful struggle and remained peaceful throughout the 'Azadi March' from Lahore to Islamabad. Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said that the Parliament turned out to be victorious in the prevailing political crisis, asking that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Parliamentarians not play the role of Porus's elephant cavalry to gains made so far.
The Opposition Leader expressed these views when the PML-N Parliamentarians welcomed the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf MNAs with shouts of 'shame, shame and interrupted PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi's speech with such slogans. Pointing towards the ministers of PML-N, Opposition Leader said "being emotional cannot lead to success and ultimately patience and tolerance stand victorious. They should demonstrate tolerance and patience because conspiracy is being hatched against the democratic system."
Buoyed by the political parties' unanimous support to democracy during the joint sitting of Parliament Khursheed Ahmed Shah said "I am happy as I feel parliament stands victorious". He said: "The PPP had asked the PML-N government to let the 'Long March' of PTI enter Islamabad and stop the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) because it is not a political party."
In response to Maulana Fazlur Rehman's question to the Speaker, "whether PTI members have any right to speak on the floor of the House, or they are strangers in the House as PTI members have tendered their resignations, the Opposition Leader said that there should be no double standards in the House. "We on one hand have allowed and welcomed Javed Hashmi, who has also submitted his resignation to take the floor while on the other hand we are not ready to allow the PTI members to enter and speak on the floor of the House.
He said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman is a senior politician and he should not resort to double standards.
The Opposition Leader said: "it is a success of the united parliament that clear cracks could be seen in the ranks of both the political parties [PTI, PAT]." Syed Khursheed Shah requested the Speaker to allow the PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi to speak in the House. He said the decision was in accordance with democratic norms and constitution.
He said the opposition parties have formed a 'political jirga' with a view to bringing the PTI back to the House after weaning it away from the PAT. He said the return of the PTI to the House is a victory of the government, the parliament and the constitution and we should not miss this opportunity to resolve the political stalemate. He, however, warned that conspiracy is still there and political leaders will have to demonstrate patience to come out of the current political crisis.
He said that Nawaz Sharif has emerged as a powerful Prime Minister and a great leader because of the patience demonstrated by him in the last couple of weeks. Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the PTI Vice-Chairman should not be allowed to speak in the House when the party members have already submitted their resignations. He said PTI and PAT are pursuing the same agenda and their leaders have also publically declared their association with each other. He said the PTI members tendered their resignation to weaken the parliament but their plot failed due to unity shown by the other political parties.
Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq clarified that he allowed Shah Mahmood Qureshi to speak on the floor of the House on the request of the Opposition and treasury members. He said that the opposition and treasury members came to his chamber and requested him to allow the PTI members to speak on the floor of the House. He said an FIR has also been registered against PTI and PAT for storming and occupying the lawns of the parliament by the protesters.
Earlier, Senator Zahid Khan of Awami National Party (ANP) said all political parties have put their weight behind the government for the sake of democracy and supremacy of constitution. He said that establishment has not accepted the 18th Constitutional Amendment. He said that conspiracy is being hatched against the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
He said the Prime Minister must not resign under any pressure as it will be a contempt of the parliament and 180 million people. Mir Hasil Bizenjo said it was a democratic attitude of the government and the opposition parties which allowed the protesting parties to stage their sit-ins in the federal capital. He said that China wants to invest $34 billion in the country and these protests and sit-ins are against the interests of Pakistan.
Aftab Ahmed Sherpao condemned the assault of protesters on the Parliament. He said that PTI should furnish proof of vote rigging and then make a demand for the Prime Minister's resignation. Mahmood Khan Achakzai said the joint sitting should pass a resolution against the attacks on parliament and PTV. He said the resolution should also carry the signatures of the PTI MNAs as they have disassociated themselves from these attacks.
Abdul Nabi Bangash of ANP said PTI and PAT are the two sides of the same coin and both are responsible for assault on the Parliament. Sahibzada Tariqullah said the whole house is united, hence the Prime Minister should not tender resignation.
PPI adds: In a major development, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislators on Wednesday submitted their resignations at party's headquarters Nine Zero, after MQM Chief Altaf Hussain asked them to submit their resignations to deputy convenor Dr Nusrat Shaukat. According to MQM sources, the party representatives in National Assembly, Senate and Sindh Assembly have submitted their resignations. MQM has 25 seats in the National Assembly, seven seats in Senate and 51 seats in the Sindh Assembly.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the MQM Chief said that these assemblies had failed to resolve public issues. He termed the current session of the parliament a "drama". Meanwhile, MQM postponed its general workers meeting, convened by its Chief Altaf Hussain on Wednesday, to Thursday (today). The MQM chief convened a session of its members and activists of sectors and units who have been cleared of any blame at Lal Qila Ground to announce an important decision. Altaf Hussain said that on the one hand, he was in a state of grief and worried over the current delicate situation of the country while on the other hand he was annoyed with the irresponsible and selfish behaviour of some party leaders.
He said that he would present details of party leaders' behavior in front of the party activists with the request to relieve him from responsibility of party leadership. Meanwhile, hundreds of party activists gathered at La Qila ground to listen to MQM chief's speech but later it was announced that the general workers meeting was postponed to today. According to MQM spokesman, the general workers meeting was postponed for Thursday; however, no reasons were given for the delay.