Government welcomes Imran's conditions to call the Long March off
�Government is seriously considering voters� verification in four constituencies� � Pervaiz Rasheed
LAHORE: (Dunya News) Federal Minister for Information, Pervaiz Rasheed, has welcomed Imran Khan s suggestions. He said that by keeping his doors open for a dialogue and giving a proper roadmap for opening the dialogue between him and the government, Imran Khan has proved that his commitment with the system remains undaunted. He also said that Imran Khan has given a clear signal to the non-democratic forces that he is not ready to play in their hands by staging a long march against the democratically elected government at this critical juncture.
“The deadlock between us can turn into a dialogue any time”, said Pervaiz Rasheed. He also mentioned that Imran Khan has remained committed with the cause of democracy and that his commitment has been reinforced by the elasticity that he has now brought into his stance.
Imran Khan had said in his speech in Bahawalpur that he had no hopes in the government and was going to take out a rally against the government on the Independence Day (August 14). He had said that he did not want the voters verification in four constituencies anymore and now he wouldn t stop at anything short of toppling Nawaz Sharif s government. However, senior members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had immediately started to send signals to the government through media talk shows and other channels that the matters could be solved through talks and negotiations. Apparently, the back door diplomacy has worked and now the PTI chief seems to be willing to give some time to the government. His statement that Long March could be called off if the government initiates the voters verification process in the four constituencies within next two weeks is in contrast with his speech that he made in Bahawalpur in which he has announced that the time for four constituencies was over now.
The four constituencies that the PTI has been demanding voters verification in are NA 110 (Sialkot), NA 122, NA 125 (Lahore) and NA 154 (Lodhran). Out of the four constituencies, the one from Sialkot has already had a decision from the Election Tribunal. The tribunal had decided the case in Khawaja Asif s favor on May 17, 2014. The tribunal had stated in its decision that despite being asked repeatedly to bring proofs of rigging, Usman Dar has failed to bring any supportive evidences. Usman Dar, the losing candidate from this constituency, has now moved to Supreme Court in an appeal against tribunal s decision. The cases of other three constituencies are still pending in the tribunals.
Answering the question about the rumors of Chaudhry Nisar s disagreement with the party leadership, Pervaiz Rasheed confirmed that there were a few disagreements but media was exaggerating the issue for no reason. Differences among parties and families are a routine phenomenon but overstating the matter by the media was uncalled for. He went on to say that the differences would be sorted out soon and the differences with other parties will also be solved in a similar fashion.
In response to another question Pervaiz Rasheed said that the Armed Forces of the country are busy in the Operation Zarb-e-Azb at the moment and the infighting of political parties at this critical juncture was not in the national interest. He said that political differences needed to be set aside for the time being so that the nation can focus on the military operation against the terrorists.
