ISLAMABAD: As the first round of talks between the government team and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek ended making no headway, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief made it clear that the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the first demand for initiating a dialogue with the government. Imran Khan on Wednesday night hinted at retreating from his pledge to lead his supporters to storm the Prime Minister House, and instead formed a six-member panel for talks with the government over his demands. “I am going nowhere. I shall stay put here in the container until Nawaz Sharif resigns. Talks will be useless until the person hiding in the PM House goes,” he asserted amid loud chants of ‘go Nawaz go’ from his spirited workers outside the Parliament House. He announced the formation of the committee during the second part of the speech to his workers after a gap of an hour or so. The panel includes Javed Hashmi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jehangir Tareen, Dr Arif Alvi, Asad Umar and Aleem Khan. Imran also explained the six-point demands of his party to the audience. He asked the government to form its committee, as the PTI was ready for talks. However, he noted that the talks would be fruitful only after the resignation of Nawaz Sharif and wondered which committee would hold the prime minister accountable for rigging the polls. He emphasised it was a prerequisite for justice that the person who faced allegations should first step down. The PTI chief asked that as long as Nawaz Sharif was sitting in the Prime Minister House, who could put his brother Shahbaz Sharif in jail for his role in the Model Town massacre. “Tell me, has any powerful person ever been sent to jail to date,” he said and called for ruthless accountability to take Pakistan forward. Imran contended the starting point of the PTI talks would be the resignation of Nawaz Sharif. Explaining the other points, henoted that after PM’s bowing out, a neutral interim set-up should installed with consensus after consultation among all political parties, and it must not include those who were indulged in 35 ‘punctures’ followed by electoral reforms and then re-elections. PTI chairman emphasised that PPP’s Khursheed Shah should become private secretary to Nawaz Sharif instead of leader of opposition, as they were one from inside.His fifth demand or point of PTI was that the incumbent Election Commission Members should be sent home after taking resignations from them, as they failed to conduct free and transparent elections. He pointed out that Punjab provincial election commissioner Anwar Mehboob, who he alleged got printed fake ballot papers in hundreds of thousands from Urdu Bazaar for distribution among PML-N representatives in five Punjab divisions and this enabled the party to bag 15 million votes in 2013 polls. He said that the new Election Commission should be formed with consultations of all the stakeholders.Imran noted that those, who were involved in 2013 polls rigging along with Nawaz Sharif, should be held accountable and put them behind the bars and proceedings under Article-6 should be initiated against them. Until, he noted, the system of accountability and punishment to the guilty was evolved as per the Allah Almighty’s command, emphasising corruption could only be eliminated this way, as enactment of new laws and formation of new Accountability Bureau would not do. Imran said acceptance of their demands and realisation would lead to fresh elections to make a new Pakistan, claiming entire Pakistan had risen for the dawn of a new morning of real democracy and a revolution and a change. There was Tehrir Square in Egypt and this was Azadi Square, Imran said. About his U-turn on his plan to lead his supporters to the PM House, Imran explained that he thought about this and then he felt pity for Nawaz, who already was under immense pressure and he was aware of what was going on in his heart.“If today I lead masses to the PM House, Nawaz may suffer a heart attack that he never thought of,” he maintained. He vowed not to leave the Constitution Avenue till the time Nawaz stepped down but insisted as a fast blower, he could not be patient for long for routine life in Islamabad stood impeded and hence the poor people’s livelihood was affected. “If you are public representative and have bagged so many votes, what you are afraid of. You have stolen the election. I shall sleep here tonight though it is not easy. The people should make their way from containers to reach the sit-in here,” he said. With regard to the resignations, he said PTI MNAs had handed over to him, whereas he himself had asked his party’s legislators of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to hold back their resignations, as they wanted to show some cards afterwards. He said if this huge rally of people had chanted ‘go Imran go’, he would have wasted no time to go home and pave way for polls afresh.Imran challenged that today opposition parties in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa jointly declared the polls in the province were rigged, he would ask CM Pervaiz Khattak to go for fresh elections and claimed to sweep the next electoral bout, having no fear whatsoever. He called the last year’s elections as fraud, as people’s mandate was stolen and even PML-N’s own MNA and interior minister had conceded in the National Assembly that from 60,000-80,000 votes were beyond verification. Imran asked them how such electoral exercise could be called fair and transparent, whereas he noted he was defeated by 8,000 votes from a Lahore constituency. He continued in the 14 NA constituencies, wherein voters’ thumb verification was conducted, from 40,000 to 80,000 votes were found to be fake.Imran drew parallel between Nawaz and Egyptian ex-president Hosni Mubarak, who also had held elections for 30 years and noted he was never thrown out by the courts or parliament but by masses, who had taken to streets against Mubarak. “Nawaz you are Pakistan’s Hosni Mubarak and people have come on roads against you,” he alleged. Earlier, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) told ruling party that nothing less than resignations of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would be acceptable.The PAT also demanded registration of murder case against Sharif brothers and 19 others allegedly involved in Model Town tragedy. “The talks cannot move further till Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif resign and murder case against 21 accused in Model Town tragedy is registered,” the negotiating team of PAT told the government team. Earlier, the PAT leadership demanded removal of Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq from government’s negotiating team as he had also been nominated by PAT in murder of 14 activists in Model Town. It was also demanded that whosoever amongst 21 persons nominated in murder of PAT workers should not be included in the team. Accepting demand of PAT, the government replaced Khawaja Saad Rafiq with Minister for Development, Planning and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal in its team. The government also included Minister for Safron Abdul Qadar Baloch, Ejazul Haq and Haider Abbas Rizvi. During first round of talks, the PAT representatives handed over demands to the government team. “We have told the government that PAT does not expect justice in case of Model Town tragedy till Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are sitting in their offices,” Raheeq Abbasi, PAT Secretary General after talks held outside Dr Qadri’s container, said. He said the government team was welcomed but made it clear that there would be no flexibility in demands of PAT.The PAT team included Raheeq Abbasi, Hamid Raza, Mustafa Khar and Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali. Ejazul Haq told the newsmen there was flexibility on both the sides and they desired that the issues between the two sides would be resolved.Haider Abbas Rizvi said the next round of talks would be held on Thursday evening. He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to whom he himself and Ejazul Haq met directed to continue dialogue with the PAT leadership. Earlier, Ejazul Haq and Haider Abbas Rizvi reached site of Dr Qadri’s containers to start dialogue but the PAT chief told them that he did not consider it government’s team. He said that the two parliamentarians represented the opposition leader Khursheed Shah and MQM leader Altaf Hussain. Later, Abdul Qadar Baloch, Khawaja Saad Rafiq also accompanied Ejazul Haq and Haider Abbas Rizvi and met PAT leaders and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. But the PAT leadership asked government to remove Saad Rafiq from its team. “We will not accept any negotiations which include any person who is nominated in Model Town tragedy,” Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain told the newsmen. Shujaat said the movement had started from Model Town tragedy and would also end at the same point. He said that only way which was resignation of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif was left with the government. He believed the way its members delivered speeches in the National Assembly, it seemed that the government was still not serious in holding talks with them. Meanwhile, addressing his supporter, Dr Qadri asked, “If Hamza Shahbaz, Hussain Nawaz and Mariam Nawaz were martyred and you were part of the opposition, what would be your reaction, would you keep supporting the law and the Constitution?” Tahirul Qadri questioned Mehmood Khan Achakzai if his daughter or son had been killed the way the people in Model Town were killed he would have stood in the assembly and spoken about the derailment of democracy. Dr Qadri said that he never refused talks claiming that the government had not sent any negotiating team to him.In the start of his speech, Dr Qadri asked the participants of ‘Inqalabi March’ to pray for the Muslims of Gaza. He said they would not show any flexibility in releasing murderers of PAT workers saying there was no room for any third umpire to play his part.Earlier, in the day, the PAT chief ordered his workers to besiege parliamentarians who were attending National Assembly session in the Parliament House. He also directed his workers to let parliamentarians go inside the Parliament House. “Let all the hunts gather inside at one place,” he said.However, he backed out of his announcement and directed his workers to end siege of the Parliament House. Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif who was also attending the session had to use gate of the President House to reach the Prime Minister House. The parliamentarians also used the same gate to leave the Parliament House. Todays Newspaper Top story National World Business Sports Karachi Lahore Islamabad Peshawar Editorial Opinion Newspost
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 01:31:28 +0000