ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Thursday the government wanted to end the “political drama” in the country by dealing with the opposition’s no-trust move before the arrival of foreign delegates for an international conference scheduled later this month.
The opposition filed a no-confidence motion in parliament against Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this week to bring down his administration and move toward fresh elections in Pakistan.
However, it made its anti-government move days ahead of a summit of foreign ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries that will be held on March 22-23.
“Pakistan will start receiving delegations of Muslim countries on 21st, 22nd and 23rd [of March],” Hussain told a news conference in the federal capital. “We desire all political dramas to come to an end before that.”
According to Pakistan’s constitution, the opposition needs at least 172 votes in the 342-member National Assembly to make the no-confidence motion successful.
Its top leaders have already maintained they have more than the required number to oust the prime minister, adding that many lawmakers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies were also willing to vote against the prime minister.
“Let me tell you that we have the complete support of our MNAs [Members of National Assembly], who amount to 179 in total, who comprise our party members and our allies,” Hussain said. “We are also hoping for extra votes. Yesterday, I said we expect around four to five [additional] votes. Today, we expect another [opposition] lawmaker to join us.”
The information minister maintained the PTI government was managing an independent foreign policy, adding the opposition leaders were not happy about it.
Parliament Lodges
Later in the day, Pakistan’s opposition parties were up in arms after the Islamabad Police stormed Parliament Lodges to clear the workers of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party.
Police launched an operation inside the residential area for parliamentarians to vacate the workers of a JUI-F force, Ansar-ul-Islam, who had forcibly entered the lodges while claiming to provide security to the opposition legislators.
“PML-N lawmaker Khawaja Saad Rafique has been injured [in the operation] and several MNAs [Members of National Assembly] have been arrested,” said Khawaja Asif, an opposition leader, while speaking to reporters outside the Parliament Lodges.
However, Hussain lashed out at the opposition, saying its workers had launched an “attack” on the area.
“Speaker National Assembly has ordered Islamabad Police to take strict action against this mob,” he tweeted.
Interior minister Sheikh Rashid also told a local news channel that about 70 to 80 JUI-F workers had forcibly entered Parliament Lodges.
“Bringing the no-confidence motion is their democratic right,” he told Geo TV. “But the type of people they are bringing with them will only ignite a civil war.”
Meanwhile, JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman urged his party workers to block roads across Pakistan while saying it was time to send the government home.
He also maintained his workers had no weapons, adding that nothing justified a police action against them.