Government allows PTI to hold 'Azadi March': Chaudhry Nisar
Interior Minister says no violent mob could bully the Prime Minister to resign.
ISLAMABAD: (Dunya News) – Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has announced that the government has decided to allow Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) to hold long marches.
Talking to a press conference today (Wednesday) in Islamabad, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the government did not want to block any political activity. He said that if any party wanted to stage any sort of political activity in any part of the country, all it needed to do was to submit an application to the administration of the relevant district.
Talking about the demands made by PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Interior Minister said that Pakistan has one of the most vigilant media in the developing world and an active judiciary; therefore, Pakistan’s fate did not need to be decided on roads. He said that no political party would be allowed to do violence in the country.
Criticizing Imran Khan, he said that Imran had repeatedly said that if 3-member bench of Supreme Court gets constituted, it will be acceptable to PTI but when Prime Minister offered the same to him, Imran backtracked from his earlier assurances.
Discussing the pre-election situation, Nisar said that suggestion about Chief Election Commissioner was given to him by Imran Khan himself. He said that he had staged a press conference against caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Najam Sethi before elections because of biased transfer postings.
“We are ready to allow institution of your choice to probe rigging allegations”, Nisar said. “Caretaker government was made by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), not us”, added the Interior Minister.
Responding to Imran Khan’s demands, Chaudhry Nisar said that no violent mob can bully the Prime Minister to resign.
Talking about Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Tahirul Qadri’s statements, Nisar said that Tahirul Qadri was taking the shield of children and women. He praised the Punjab Police for thwarting the plans of a violent meeting on August 10.
Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader told that Islamabad administration had written a letter to Imran Khan earlier regarding long march but when PTI and PAT became united, it became difficult for the government to differentiate between PTI and PAT workers. He said that the government had to revisit the strategy because of the new situation that arose after PAT-PTI union.
Interior Minister appreciated all political parties of Pakistan for playing positive role in saving the democracy. He praised other political parties saying that PMLN has serious political differences with some political parties but they stood firm with democracy. He specially praised Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leaders Sirajul Haq and Liaquat Baloch for trying to bridge the gap between government and PTI till the last moment. He praised security agencies including Police, Frontier Corps and Rangers for providing security to the people of Pakistan.
Chaudhry Nisar apologized for the problems that the people had to face because of containers that were employed across Punjab. He clarified that there were serious threats of violence on August 10 because of which government had to take such measures. He said that the government never wanted to employ containers.
“PMLN was not responsible for rigging”, he said. “In fact PMLN was under pressure during this election”, he added. Nisar assured that government will welcome every kind of suggestions for electoral reforms. He said that Lahore High Court’s decision will be respected in letter and spirit. “If any party or organization wants a political activity in any of the cities, they just have to give an application to the district administration, government will not intervene”, he assured.
