Latif seeks commission on PTI's 2014 sit-in

PML-N leader Javed Latif has urged the formation of commissions to dig deeper into not just the May 9 and October 26 riots or election-rigging allegations, but also the 2014 sit-in and alleged attempts to stir rebellion against state institutions.

However, Latif expresses his party's inability to make such decisions independently, despite leading the government.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, the former federal minister stood firm on his claims of rigging in the 2024 general elections, which saw the PML-N form a government in the centre and Punjab.

While endorsing PTI demand for a commission, he insisted the investigation's net must be cast wider to include PTI's 2014 sit-in and attempts to provoke mutiny within institutions.

Latif, however, brushed aside PTI's dialogue with the government as nothing more than a facade, claiming the party's real game plan was to court foreign intervention for the release of its incarcerated founder Imran Khan.

"They believed that once Trump takes office, he would exert pressure on Pakistan to release Imran Khan," he said, adding that time has forced them out of the fool's paradise.

However, in the same breath, he claimed that the foreign pressure on behalf of Imran Khan was real, coming from quarters hostile to Pakistan and Muslims, particularly those pushing for Pakistan to recognise Israel.

"We are economically weak, and global financial institutions are being used as weapons against us," Latif said, stressing that foreign powers act solely in their own interests and support those aligned with their agendas.

When asked why the PML-N government had not agreed to the formation of a commission, Latif admitted, "PML-N does not have the authority to make such significant decisions within the government. Even when we held a two-thirds majority, we couldn't save our prime minister," he said, hinting at the party's constrained role in its own administration.