LAHORE: Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan has said that personally he considers that proscribing any political party is inappropriate, while Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has chided those elements who find opportunity in uncertain political conditions in the country.

Talking to the media on Sunday, Governor Khan said that the PML-N took a unilateral decision of proscribing the PTI and he or his party, the PPP, was not taken on board by the ruling PML-N before announcing the decision.

However, the governor said the issue of the ban on PTI would be taken up in the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting and a decision on whether to support the likely ban on PTI or oppose it in the parliament would be taken after thorough discussions.

The governor made it clear that “personally” he didn’t think it was appropriate to proscribe a political party.

Defence minister criticises ‘opportunistic’ elements

He suggested that all authorities concerned to differentiate between the PTI activists who took part in the attacks on military installations and those who are as patriotic as other politicians. “Try those who are accused of the May 9 attacks and penalise them if found guilty, but it will be inappropriate to take action against those who were not involved in the attacks,” he said.

Khawaja Asif chides ‘opportunists’

Through his X (formerly Twitter) account, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif chided the elements who find opportunities for them in political instability in the country.

In an apparent reference to the forming of a new political party by former PML-N leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Miftah Ismael, he said in his X post that a number of press conferences and TV talk shows are being held these days.

He recalls that politics in the country led to many mishaps and, as a result of these mishaps, undemocratic setups came into being that were not the product of elections.

Sometimes these setups were apparently established for holding elections, he said.

These ‘chance’ setups gave birth to a generation of politicians, technocrats and businessmen who would always look out for any tragedy and ready to dress up [to take oath as ministers], he said. During uncertain times, they would form new political parties, hold press conferences and repeatedly appear in TV talks shows while looking towards Pindi (a hint towards military establishment), he added.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2024