'PM's resignation out of the question,' Dar quotes Zardari
PPP committed to standing with PML-N, says senior leader following a meeting between PM, former president
LAHORE:
The much-anticipated meeting between the premier and Pakistan Peoples Party chief Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday ended with a confident Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz quoting the former president as saying that the prime minister's resignation is "out of the question".
The PML-N also stated that the PPP are committed to standing with the government in line with their policy of upholding democracy and the Constitution.
The statements were made by senior leaders of the PML-N following a much-anticipated meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Zardari, and come at a time when the country is gripped by a political crisis.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek are currently camped outside Parliament House, lodging their protest against the government and demanding that the premier step down.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, however, told reporters after the meeting, “Zardari sahib has been very clear… there is no question of the resignation of the prime minister.”
“The PPP reiterated their stance: to continue the path of democracy and the Constitution, they will stand with the PML-N,” he said.
Referring to the protests, the minister said the government had facilitated them and had also permitted them to enter the Red Zone. “We want to solve these issues in accordance with the law and constitution,” he said.
However, he made it a point to mention the setbacks the protests had caused for the country, saying, “The stock exchange has suffered, international visits have been cancelled and the IMF review which was supposed to happen in Pakistan has also been pending.”
Backing Dar’s statements, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said, “We are thankful to Zardari for his stand in the situation. Asking for the PM’s resignation aims to weaken the state.”
In response to a question about the judicial commission, Dar said, “As far as I am concerned, out of PTI’s six demands, two have been dealt with.”
“One, the prime minister wrote a letter to the Supreme Court… to the chief justice requesting the constitution of a judicial commission to look into the many allegations – even though PML-N was not in power at the time,” says the finance minister, making sure to add that the PML-N is not guilty.
“You can’t be the complainant and the judge as well,” says Dar.
“We will not compromise on anything that is extra-constitutional or extra-legal,” Asif said, adding that if other parties’ parliamentary delegations want to also engage in dialogue with PTI, the PML-N would welcome it.
“PML-N and PPP’s meeting strengthened the commitment [to each other],” the unabashed Khawaja Saad Rafique said in response to a question about the meeting.
“This ‘attack’ is not on the government, it is on the law and Constitution,” the minister for railways says, referring to the PTI and PAT.
The much-anticipated meeting between the premier and Pakistan Peoples Party chief Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday ended with a confident Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz quoting the former president as saying that the prime minister's resignation is "out of the question".
The PML-N also stated that the PPP are committed to standing with the government in line with their policy of upholding democracy and the Constitution.
The statements were made by senior leaders of the PML-N following a much-anticipated meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Zardari, and come at a time when the country is gripped by a political crisis.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek are currently camped outside Parliament House, lodging their protest against the government and demanding that the premier step down.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, however, told reporters after the meeting, “Zardari sahib has been very clear… there is no question of the resignation of the prime minister.”
“The PPP reiterated their stance: to continue the path of democracy and the Constitution, they will stand with the PML-N,” he said.
Referring to the protests, the minister said the government had facilitated them and had also permitted them to enter the Red Zone. “We want to solve these issues in accordance with the law and constitution,” he said.
However, he made it a point to mention the setbacks the protests had caused for the country, saying, “The stock exchange has suffered, international visits have been cancelled and the IMF review which was supposed to happen in Pakistan has also been pending.”
Backing Dar’s statements, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said, “We are thankful to Zardari for his stand in the situation. Asking for the PM’s resignation aims to weaken the state.”
In response to a question about the judicial commission, Dar said, “As far as I am concerned, out of PTI’s six demands, two have been dealt with.”
“One, the prime minister wrote a letter to the Supreme Court… to the chief justice requesting the constitution of a judicial commission to look into the many allegations – even though PML-N was not in power at the time,” says the finance minister, making sure to add that the PML-N is not guilty.
“You can’t be the complainant and the judge as well,” says Dar.
“We will not compromise on anything that is extra-constitutional or extra-legal,” Asif said, adding that if other parties’ parliamentary delegations want to also engage in dialogue with PTI, the PML-N would welcome it.
“PML-N and PPP’s meeting strengthened the commitment [to each other],” the unabashed Khawaja Saad Rafique said in response to a question about the meeting.
“This ‘attack’ is not on the government, it is on the law and Constitution,” the minister for railways says, referring to the PTI and PAT.