HYDERABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said the PTI believes the government’s move to introduce the 24th constitutional amendment is illegal and motivated by political and personal interests. He branded the amendment as ‘Panama constitutional amendment’ and ‘a safety gear’, since it was a desperate attempt to escape from Panamagate and provide the PML-N some sort of face-saving in the event of an adverse verdict, said Mr Qureshi while speaking to journalists in Hyderabad and Thatta on Friday.

At a reception camp set up by party activists in Hyderabad, he said that he invited all opposition parties to devise a strategy to block the ill-intentioned amendment.

He tried to dispel the impression that PTI had submitted incomplete evidence to the court and said that Sharif family had admitted ownership of property after which the burden of proof shifted to the premier’s family.

He rejected the Pakistan Peoples Party leaders’ allegation that Imran Khan had torpedoed the unity of the opposition parties over the Panamagate.

PTI was so keen for a united opposition that it regularly took part in the committee on terms of reference for accountability of the prime minister but the state media always highlighted difference of opinions among leaders to create rifts, he said.

He said the party’s movement against corruption was not restricted to Sindh alone. The PTI’s slogan ‘eliminate corruption, save the country’ had turned into a popular public demand, he said.

Majority of population was unhappy with PPP’s bad governance in Sindh and they wanted change. PTI would try to live up to their expectations and bring about the change they desired, he said.

Mr Qureshi said that due to lack of an effective foreign policy Pakistan was unable to give a befitting response to India with regard to Kashmir issue and the situation along the Line of Control.

He was accompanied by party colleagues Dr Arif Alvi, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Dr Mustansir Billah and others.

THATTA: Earlier in Thatta, Mr Qureshi termed the PML-N move to introduce the 24th amendment an escape from Panamagate because, he said, lawyers had advised Nawaz Sharif that there was no other recourse to get a face-saving.

He said at a joint gathering of PTI activists and members of his Ghousia Jamaat at Makli on Friday afternoon that all the demands raised by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, including appointment of a foreign minister, were quite justified.

In the absence of an adequate foreign policy and a full-time foreign minister, he said, the government had failed to effectively fight its case about atrocities in India-held Kashmir and ceasefire violations along the Line of Control.

He said the bill tabled by joint opposition must be passed to give due share to smaller federating units in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Mr Qureshi was critical of Sindh rulers and said the provincial government had miserably failed to deliver, resolve chronic problems and redress a deepening sense of deprivation and disappointment among the population.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2016