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LAHORE: As several leaders of the parliamentary opposition head for the United Kingdom, for various purported reasons, some PML-N leaders have flagged the trip as “yet another ‘London plan’ against democracy”.
Jehangir Tareen and Chaudhry Sarwar of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid recently left for London where Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chairman Tahirul Qadri is already present.
As the ruling party braces itself for the PTI’s Islamabad “shut down” on Oct 30, the visits to London rankled its top leaders.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq shared his misgivings with reporters on Sunday, claiming that the opposition leaders would meet in London to find the “lock” that would shut down Islamabad. “This is a conspiracy against democracy and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).” Referring to a similar meeting between PTI chief Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri in 2014, Mr Sadiq said, “It won’t work… these trips will bear no fruit.”
The government would not allow the PTI to disrupt the capital on Oct 30, he maintained. “Imran Khan should exercise his right to protest all he wants but he mustn’t work to derail democracy.”
In reply to a question about the PTI’s boycott of the joint sessions of parliament, Mr Sadiq gave a thinly veiled warning that they might not get the same lenient treatment they had the last time when they had boycotted the sessions for 40 days.
“The solution to all problems is in parliament… not on the roads,” he said.
Parliament’s joint session on Kashmir should have given a message of unity on the issue, but the PTI chose to boycott that too, the speaker said.
Mohammad Mehdi, a PML-N leader, told Dawn that Imran Khan might also visit London to finalise arrangements for the Oct 30 protest. “He wants to topple the government using unconstitutional means,” he said. “Other opposition parties have matured over time, but Mr Khan would scruple at nothing to achieve his political objectives.”
Mr Mehdi said he believed that the PTI leaders would try to persuade Mr Qadri to join the protest. “I don’t think he will allow himself to be used this way once again.” However, several members of the opposition rubbished the government’s fears of a ‘London plan’ brewing.
Mr Tareen was visiting London for a medical check-up and Mr Sarwar was there to raise the Kashmir issue, PTI’s Shafqat Mehmood told Dawn. “There is no point in paying attention to government propaganda.”
The PAT, too, expressed anger over the musings. A spokesman for the party denied that Mr Qadri had plans to meet any members of the opposition. “No one from the PTI has contacted us for the Oct 30 protest.”
He insisted that the PAT was on good terms with the PTI and criticised Mr Sadiq for “acting as the party spokesperson”.
Imran Khan had announced that the PTI would not allow the government to function post-Oct 30. The PTI has demanded that the prime minister step down or accept the terms of reference of investigation into his family’s offshore holdings.
Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2016
