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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s fresh offer to the opposition PTI for a dialogue on Wednesday met with a strong rebuke, as the latter made it conditional with the release of the party’s founding chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders and activists.
“If any hardships are being faced by your [PTI’s] founder in jail, then [let’s] talk about them,” said PM Shehbaz in the National Assembly, addressing the PTI members who kept on highlighting their alleged political victimisation and decried the alleged mistreatment of Mr Khan at Adiala Jail during their speeches on cut motions related to the federal budget.
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The other highlight of the proceedings was the speech of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who forcefully opposed the planned anti-terrorism operation, Azm-i-Istehkam. At the same time, however, he warned that certain areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could fall under the control of the “Islamic emirate”, a reference to the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan, within the next two to four months.
Talks offer
Taking the floor soon after PTI’s Ali Muhammad Khan’s speech in which he highlighted the alleged state high-handedness against PTI members and said that the Constitution could not be implemented in a country facing lawlessness, the prime minister said that he and other PML-N members also remained victims of the alleged political victimisation when the PTI was in power.
He recalled that on the day his mother died, he was taken to a court for hearing of a case. He said that despite being a cancer survivor and with a backbone ailment, he used to be driven to courts on an ordinary prison van just to exacerbate the condition, but he never complained.
PM Shehbaz also recalled how party leaders like Rana Sanaullah and Khawaja Asif were allegedly forced to sleep on the floor inside the jail. He, however, said they did not want to see their opponents facing the same hardships which they had faced in the past. “Once again I say today, come, let’s sit and talk, and we can sort out the problems,” he added.
“In 76 years (since the country’s independence), we’ve reached a point where we are even hesitating to shake hands with one another,” said the premier, who had gone to the opposition benches to shake hands with Maulana Fazl and other PTI members sitting in the front row, including Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan and Asad Qaiser.
PM Shehbaz regretted that his repeated offers for a Charter of Economy had never been responded to positively. Instead, he was hooted down in the assembly when he made this offer as the opposition leader after the 2018 elections.
“Come, let’s agree on the Charter of Economy today,” the premier added. He said justice must always be delivered, whether to a political leader or an individual from any walk of life.
Opposition Leader Omar Ayub, however, immediately responded with stringent preconditions and retorted that the “Form 47 prime minister has talked (about reconciliation). Had there been (members elected on) Form 45 people, Imran Khan would have been the prime minister today”.
Mr Ayub added: “Talks will take place when Imran Khan is out of jail and when our members are out [of jail].” He accused the government of subjecting Imran Khan to harsh conditions and subjecting party members to torture. “We will not talk. Imran Khan has been kept in a death cell and an oven,” he said.
He refuted PM Shehbaz’s claims about their own hardships, claiming that Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif had been provided with air conditioners in jail and had permission to meet visitors daily. He said the National Assembly could only run effectively when every member was given equal respect, and reconciliation was possible only if the government realised its “wrongdoings”.
Fazl’s warning
Earlier in the day, the JUI-F chief, who had forcefully taken the floor by threatening to stage a walkout, warned that there would be a “government of Islamic emirate” in Dera Ismail Khan, Waziristan, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Karak and other adjacent areas of KP.
Maulana Fazl said police stations were closed at sunset in these areas because the state had no writ there, claiming that some 40,000 to 50,000 militants had already arrived there despite the much-touted fencing of the Pak-Afghan border.
The JUI-F chief, who had come to the house for the first time since the presentation of the federal budget earlier this month, drew the house’s attention to the ongoing protest in Chaman and other areas along the Afghan border and castigated the government for imposing restrictions on their movement, which affected their family life and businesses.
Maulana Fazl lamented that the internally displaced persons (IDPs) whose houses were wholly and partially damaged due to previous military operations in the erstwhile Fata areas, had not been provided financial support for their rehabilitation yet.
He said the prime minister’s recent visit to China was “diplomatically unsuccessful”, saying that a visiting Chinese minister categorically told the Pakistan leadership that there was no political stability and security in the country.
He also lashed out at the government for imposing heavy taxes on the people, asking the administration to come out of the illusion that the people would pay them the taxes.
“If the rulers can’t ensure rights to the people, they have no right to impose taxes,” said Maulana Fazl, who had not participated in the budget debate.
Several opposition lawmakers protested over censoring of their speeches during the live telecast on PTV and Facebook page of the NA Secretariat.
Aliya Kamran of the JUI-F told the speaker that a muted speech of Maulana Fazl had been telecast, asking him to take action. The speaker, however, preferred to keep mum on the issue.
Cut motions
Meanwhile, the National Assembly passed over Rs8.78 trillion for 121 demands for grants relating to various ministries, divisions and departments for the fiscal year 2024-25. The house also rejected 156 cut motions that had been moved by the opposition.
The opposition challenged the speaker’s ruling on the approval of a demand for the grant, forcing the speaker to order a headcount.
The speaker, however, declared the demand as approved with a 118-49 vote.