Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, the head of the government committee mandated to hold dialogue with the opposition parties on JUI-F's Azadi March, said on Thursday that the government side contacted all the opposition parties and none of which demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan's resignation.
He was talking to media persons along with Minister for Information Technology Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. "We have contacted all the opposition parties as part of our government's efforts to engage them in dialogue. We haven't received any demand from anyone that the PM should step down," he said.
Separately, speaking to media persons after a meeting, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Fehmida Mirza earlier said the government committee would not accept the JUI-F's demand for the PM to resign if this demand is raised during the government-opposition talks.
Ahead of a crucial meeting scheduled today (Friday) between the government committee and Rahbar Committee-an alliance of nine anti-government opposition parties - the government's side Thursday reviewed options to be put up before the opposition.
In this connection, consultations continued between the PM and his advisors. Separately, the government committee also held meetings with the federal government coalition partners including Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The options under government's consideration include offering the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) to stage sit-in at the Parade Ground in Islamabad on the condition that the political party would give written assurances that it would not resort to any kind of violence during its protest campaign, a PTI lawmaker told Business Recorder. Reportedly, the government side wants to enter into a written agreement with the JUI-F leadership regarding October 31 Azadi March and sit-in, and involve senior members of opposition parties as guarantors for JUI-F, in the agreement. Moreover, the government wants the inclusion of a provision in the agreement that the government would be justified in taking action if JUI-F resorts to violence, the PTI source said.
Apart from Khattak, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood, Religious Affairs Minister Noor-ul-Haq Qadri and PTI's Member National Assembly (MNA) Asad Umer are part of the seven-member committee.
Earlier at Wednesday night, reports surfaced that Khattak and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi contacted Convenor Rahbar Committee and senior JUI-F leader Akram Durrani. Both sides agreed to meet at Durrani's residence on October 25 (today).
This development followed a meeting between the PM and the government committee members held the same day (Wednesday). "It was decided that the government, with its firm belief in upholding democratic ideals, would allow the proposed Azadi March if it takes place within the ambit of law and the Constitution as interpreted in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and Islamabad High Court," said a press release from the Prime Minister's Office issued after the meeting between the PM and the government committee members on Wednesday.
On October 27, 2016, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ordered that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should hold its protest at Parade Ground while barring Imran Khan's party from locking down Islamabad. The court issued this order on the petition against PTI's scheduled lockdown of the federal capital on November 2, 2016. The PTI was set to challenge this decision in the Supreme Court before the top court started hearing of Panama Papers case on November 1, a day before the planned lockdown, leading the PTI to cancel its protest campaign. Instead, the PTI leadership celebrated a 'Thanksgiving Day' at the Parade Ground.
PM Khan and his government came under sharp criticism earlier for 'daring' the JUI-F and other opposition parties to stage a sit-in at D-Chowk, as they said the government would facilitate the protestors by providing them containers and food. Lately, however, the federal government has started taking stringent measures to block the protestors from entering Islamabad, in the name of security.
The PTI source claimed the PM has not backtracked from his statement regarding facilitating the protestors. "But, we have seen on television channels and social media that there are JUI-F groups armed with batons, sticks and rods who are challenging the writ of the state. There shall be no tolerance for such elements. It is our government's responsibility to ensure peace and security and no stone would be left unturned in this regard," the source referred to videos featuring JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman receiving 'guard of honour' from his baton-armed groups of loyalists who were dressed in khaki coloured uniform.
"In such a situation, how can we allow the protestors to gather at D-Chowk which is a stone's throw away from the Parliament House and Constitution Avenue?" the insider said, adding that the protestors would be allowed to enter the Parade Ground after clearance from the security agencies that they are not armed with weapons, sticks, batons or anything that can help ignite violence.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019