PM shuns Imran’s ultimatum

Premier Shehbaz says current regime won’t be ‘blackmailed’

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that the National Assembly and the coalition government would decide when to hold the next general elections and stressed that the incumbent regime still had at least a year left in its tenure.

“The doors were open for talks with the opposition [PTI] but I will not take any dictation,” the premier said while addressing the floor of the National Assembly.

He added that if PTI Chairman Imran Khan thought he could "blackmail" the government then, "do it in your own house, not this House".

Read: PM Shehbaz lauds LEAs after Imran 'calls off' sit-in

“I can form a committee but dictation will not work and no group or party can be allowed to rebel against the Constitution.”

PM Shehbaz’s remarks came after PTI chief Imran , earlier in the day, gave the government a six-day ultimatum to the government to announce a date for elections or else he would return to D-Chowk with his supporters after which he abruptly ended his party’s “Haqeeqi Long March”.

"How long will the people of my country continue to suffer this joke?" the PM asked. "The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police and their chief minister came with armed groups. This is not happening anywhere in the world. The chief minister of a province attacked the federation with armed people."

The prime minister added that on April 22, he was sworn in as the prime minister, but was threatened when he had decided to work for the betterment of the country.

"We had two goals in front of us. One was transparent elections and the other was the economy. When we decided to work towards these goals, we were threatened with being besieged. There is no room for such menace.”

Shehbaz noted that the Election (Amendment Bill) 2022, which was passed earlier today, had laid the foundation for transparent polls.

As for the second target, he said it would be an uphill task but history was witness that if challenges were tackled with energy and effort, the situation could be improved.

“Challenges and difficulties are a lot but we are committed. We will work hard to make Pakistan a free country and regain its lost honour.”

He further condemned ex-premier Imran for creating a situation akin to the 2014 sit-in where clashes were witnessed and state property was damaged.

"He [Imran] criticised state institutions and courts. He changed his tone depending if the court's decisions were against or in his favour. Nothing would remain if history is allowed to be repeated.”

PM Shehbaz regretted the damage caused to Islamabad's greenery a day earlier and said the National Assembly would have to decide whether the country would be taken towards chaos or towards prosperity.

The prime minister warned that no one would be allowed to bring live ammunition to the federal capital and permission could not be given for "bloody marches".

He added that law enforcement agencies in all respected societies used measures like tear gas shelling and rubber bullets against unconstitutional marches.

PM Shehbaz paid tribute to various law enforcement agencies’ personnel, who had performed their duties responsibly a day earlier.

The prime minister also hit out at the PTI and Imran for not changing their march's date from the day that Kashmiri freedom leader Yasin Malik was scheduled to be sentenced by an Indian court. He claimed that ex-PM Imran did not care about the atrocities faced by the Kashmiris.