ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Government ministers on Sun­day said that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders were criticising national institutions to save their wealth earned through corruption, but Prime Minister Imran Khan would never give them the National Reconciliation Ordinance-type concessions.

Reacting to speeches made by opposition leaders at a public meeting held in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to observe the 13th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, they said the government was ready to hold talks with the opposition, but threats of march on Islamabad and toppling the government won’t work.

One of the ministers said the government was ready to hold negotiations with the opposition and talks could be held on all important issues in the parliament, but Prime Minister Khan would never give it (the opposition) an NRO-style concessions.

Responding to PDM leaders’ warning of staging the long march on Islamabad if the prime minister did not step down, the ministers said the opposition would fail to topple the government.

Opposition urged to grab opportunity of national dialogue offered by government

“By bashing state institutions, opposition leaders have proved that they can go to any extent to save their looted wealth, but they cannot blackmail Prime Minister Imran Khan,” federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz said.

He said whatever pressure the opposition parties exerted on Mr Khan for their lust for power, they would never come to power again.

“They are free to stage long march towards Islamabad, but they will fail,” the minister said.

Mr Faraz claimed that PPP lawmakers would not tender their resignations and the PML-N would be deceived on the issue.

“Maryam will not get resignations of PPP lawmakers,” the minister said.

He said the PDM wanted to remove an elected and democratic government through un-democratic ways, but “disappointment will be your (opposition’s) destiny”, he said.

The minister said that souls of former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto would be in pain now as the worst opponents of their philosophy were sitting in their house in Larkana.

He said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had acted as a facilitator in the hanging of former prime minister Z.A. Bhutto.

“Those, who used to criticise each other in the past and announced dragging each other on the roads of Lahore and Larkana, have now become each other’s guests,” Mr Faraz said.

Punjab government’s spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan also criticised PDM leaders’ speeches and said that their planned long march was doomed to fail.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry asked Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to explain the agenda through which they could do what their parents failed to do during their rule of three decades in the country.

Speaking at a press conference here, Mr Chaudhry said the PDM’s three main political parties revolved around three families and personalities. “How come these political parties, which are inherently dictatatorial within their party structures, lecture other people about democracy and democratic values,” he said.

He said PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz wanted to become prime minister of the country without working for even a single day or running her home’s kitchen. He said Ms Maryam led a life of luxury with the public money looted by her father.

“Pakistan’s prime ministership cannot be an internship for any ‘Ladla’ or ‘Ladli’,” Mr Chaudhry said, adding that some decisions must be taken on merit.

The minister said that Prime Minister Khan had given the opposition a safe passage out of its difficult time by offering to hold talks on national issues in the parliament, but it had chosen a confrontational mode.

“The opposition parties, particularly its serious leadership, should now come forward to grab the opportunity of national dialogue,” Mr Chaudhry said, adding that the two kids playing the lead role in the opposition knew nothing about politics and they had no future in the country’s politics.

“The opposition is in the confrontation mode with the army and at the same time it wanted to talk to the army and establishment,” he said, adding that the country’s progress lay in discussion and debate in the parliament instead of roads and streets.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2020