LAHORE: The Pakistan People's Party has asked the government to immediately withdraw Article 245 because the entire political leadership of the country and civil society have opposed it.

"The PML-N government is mishandling a political issue. It has complicated the matter of a political protest by calling in army in the federal capital," former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said here on Friday.

Mr Gilani said during his tenure as a premier he had not called in the army to stop the lawyers march to restore the judiciary. He said the government should not have set this precedent. He said PTI's long march should be peaceful.

Punjab PPP President Manzoor Wattoo said the situation in Islamabad was not that bad to invoke the article. He said the government should withdraw the army because there was a possibility of a clash of the institution.

He argued that it also implied that the government and its law-enforcement agencies had failed to secure the federal capital reflecting poorly on its ability to handle a political issue.

Wattoo said the PML-N government was taking a solo flight. He said the ongoing military operation in North Wazirstan was launched without taking parliament into confidence.

Lahore PPP President Samina Ghurki said the government should not use force to deal with political issues.

Published in Dawn, Aug 2nd , 2014