Following the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision to de-seat 25 dissident PTI MPAs, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said that the ruling will have no effect on the Punjab government.
Addressing a press conference, the minister criticised the PTI and said that the party Chairman Imran Khan was earlier hurling abuses at the ECP and asking his followers to attack its offices, but now, after receiving a decision in his party’s favour, he is praising the commission.
She emphasised that the decision is “only for the 25 dissident PTI members”, adding that the de-seating of the members will have no effect on the election of Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz as the allied parties already have the support of 177 members.
Berating the former PTI-led government, the PML-N leader said that “these are the people who want to cling on to power no matter how much they hurt the country’s situation”.
She further said that the dissident members are those who showed a lack of confidence in their party’s decision and decided to vote for someone else, adding that the PTI’s defecting parliamentarians voted against Khan publicly.
The information minister went on to say that these members are eligible to cast their votes for the no-confidence motion. “They knew about the consequences and voted against their party and in favour of the nation,” she said.
“The dissident members have the right to challenge the ECP’s decision,” said the information minister.
The PML-N leader further maintained that the PTI government “looted the nation for four years and benefitted the cartels and mafias”.
She said that Khan should be held accountable in the foreign-funding case and he should also clarify the position of his wife’s friend, Farah Gogi, who has been accused of corruption.
She added that the decision regarding the foreign-funding case should be announced within a day just, after which, a ban should be imposed on the PTI.
The information minister added that the people of Pakistan have rejected the PTI.
Govt reviving NACTA, reviewing NAP:
In her speech at the National Assembly, the information minister said that the government has decided to “revive” the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and is reviewing the National Action Plan to counter terrorism in the country.
She noted that terrorism is once again on the rise in the country. “But we need to note some things here. In the last four years, not a single meeting of NACTA, which is chaired by the prime minister, was held. In 2014, Nawaz Sharif had prepared Pakistan’s first national security policy,” she recalled.
After the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar attack, she continued, the government had prepared the National Action Plan to counter terrorism which was unanimously passed by Parliament.
According to that plan, for the first time, all the provinces, law enforcement agencies, the people of Pakistan and federal units had decided to come together and fight terrorism, the minister stated.
“But for four years, the plan was completely ignored because of the ego of one person (Imran Khan),” she claimed. “Whether it was water, polio or terrorism, that man wasn’t ready to talk to anyone. He never found it necessary.”
Moving on, the minister stated that the first meeting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired after assuming power was on terrorism. “We are now, once again, reviewing the National Action Plan. Meanwhile, the interior ministry has completed the infrastructure of NACTA and a meeting will be called next week,” she added.
