The 23-day long sit-in (dharna) is still on. Hundreds of protestors occupy manicured lawns of the Parliament House. Waiting is the immediate task for the government to clear the red zone before the imminent state visit of Xi Jinping, President of People’s Republic of China, sometime and next week.
According to latest reports the government is mulling whether the esteemed guest should be received at Lahore, instead of the federal capital. Nevertheless, there is to be considered the devastation caused by recent monsoon rains bringing misery, destruction of property and loss of lives in Lahore.
The previous day saw the PTI lawmakers march into Parliament, with Shah Mehmood Qureshi making a feverish speech about his party’s decision to march. The MQM, too, added to mounting pressure on the government when party chief Altaf Hussain demanded the resignations of all MQM legislators.
Unreliable Qadri
Yet there is hope. Allama Qadri has asked his supporters to end the occupation on yesterday. Can one trust Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Allama Qadri? 62 per cent respondents to a recent Gallop Pakistan survey suggest one should not rely on his promises. Be that as it might, this has been done by MNA Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad who went to Allama’s air-conditioned container and to clear buildings inside the red zone, and should not be occupied by protestors. These buildings symbolize state authority, said Supreme Court five members Bench hearing a petition on fear of extra constitutional measures being imposed during PAT and Tehreek Insaf (PTI) long march.
Shaikh Sahib appeared in the apex court to explain the stand of PAT and PTI (Pakistan Tehreek Insaf)
But we may be near the end of this crisis because several delegations of Opposition parties, the government and PAT and PTI protagonists have met each other ever since the ISPR issued a press release putting forth views of Pakistan Army Corps Commanders that the contending parties should settle their differences without losing time. That seems to be working.
According to Asad Umar, PTI MNA, who sits in the PTI core committee, an agreement to the tussle between PTI/PAT might be possible very soon.
May be, things are looking up. An adamant Imran Khan always wanting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation has now come down to accept an independent judicial commission to probe the charge of a rigged election. And yesterday PTI vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi came to the joint sitting of the Parliament and declared that he regards the Parliament House as his political Makkah. He had come here at Imran Khan’s command to confirm his party’s resignation, but he did not even refer to the subject during his long speech. In which he said, “words spoken outside [the parliament] were emotional; but words spoken inside the House were of substance, and on record and that is what should matter.” “The PTI never was and never will be part of a grand plan that will undermine democracy,” Qureshi clarified.
Many analysts aver that PTI€™ president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi may be the game changer in PTI;s shifting stands. ?
Makhdoom who was ousted from the party by his chairman Imran Khan still claims that he is elected president of PTI. He left the scene at the container after Imran Khan and Allama Tehreek gave leave to protestors to march to Parliament occupy the front of Prime Minister House, and vandalize state Pakistan Television.
A day before the joint sitting of the parliament Makhdoom Sahib addressed a news conference, revealing the Khan and PAT’s Qadri gelling together for the march and sit-in. The plan was previously scripted, and planned in London, where both Khan and Tahirul Qadri might have met, according to impression of Makhdoom Sahib.
Meanwhile, the joint sitting of the Parliament has unanimously rejected Khan’s demand for resignation of the prime minister. One can never demand resignation by putting a pistol on the Prime Minister’s head, said former President Asif Ali Zardari, who has now reached Islamabad to play a role in defusing the current impasse.
Source: Weekly Holiday
