• Strategy for Elahi’s vote of confidence discussed in Zaman Park huddle • Party decides to come up with White Paper on ‘failing economy’

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Monday condemned the National Assembly speaker’s decision to head abroad on a tour soon after the party decided that its legislators would appear before him to pressurise him for acceptance of its MNAs’ resignations.

The senior PTI leadership termed the speaker’s “partiality towards the government an insult to the parliament” at a party meeting held at the residence of ex-premier Imran Khan, where former finance minister Shaukat Tarin gave a briefing about the soaring prices.

The meeting, which reviewed economic recession that they said had rendered thousands of people jobless, making it difficult for them to make ends meet, also decided to issue a White Paper on the economy.

Mr Khan’s plan for the dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies also came under discussion at the meeting.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry told the media the party had created different working groups on governance.

About its strategy for vote of confidence, the senior leader said the PTI and its ally PML-Q would hold Punjab parliamentary parties’ meeting. All 187 MPAs, including 10 belonging to the PML-Q, would attend the meeting, he added.

The ruling alliance would take vote of confidence for the chief minister Parvez Elahi – much before Jan 11 – a date fixed by the Lahore High Court to take up the case pertaining to governor’s order.

He said some PML-N MPAs were also contacting the PTI and “wanted to be adjusted”. “Such politicians will be adjusted in the constituencies, where the PTI and PML-Q won’t have candidates,” he said, adding that next general elections were round the corner.

About the meeting at Zaman Park, the ex-minister said it was informed that the country would default if the PDM government failed to get its IMF programme extended and the masses would face serious impact of price hike.

“If the government will accept the IMF conditions, even then there will be a storm of price hike that will push the masses against the wall,” he remarked.

The PTI leader said it was high time the judiciary, army and other state institutions analysed the country’s situation and compelled the incumbent coalition government to announce general elections to allow a public-mandated government to put the economy on track.

The party decided also looked into the impact of shattering economy on country’s sovereignty, defence and security.

The meeting, which was chaired by Mr Khan, deliberated upon the decisions of incumbent Pakistan Democratic Movement government and its impact on rupee, industry and purchasing power of the masses, before arriving at the conclusion that the coalition government was pushing the country towards default.

Ex-PM Khan told participants in the meeting the PDM government’s corrupt, dishonest and incompetent group was given a ‘clean-chit through NRO-II’ and they eventually ruined the economy. He said he had been raising this issue since the day his government had been toppled through the regime change ‘conspiracy’.

After economic disaster, Mr Khan said the imported government was also failing on the internal security front. The nation had been asking about those pushing the country towards internal conflicts, he said.

“It is a foolish act to leave country’s foreign policy and national security in the hands of ‘immature’ son of Asif Zardari,” he said in a reference to the foreign minister.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2022