Islamabad is heating up. Imran Khan has threatened to storm the Prime Minister House if Nawaz Sharif does not resign before the expiry of a so-called deadline from the PTI chief. Moreover, Qadri has promised his followers that accountability would be ensured for the “corrupt” rulers. The army has broken its silence and has publicly urged both the government and the protesting political parties to exercise restraint and find a way out of the crisis through dialogue. But the silence from the prime minister has lasted far too long and there is no word on progress on negotiations between the two sides. With little progress on a negotiated settlement and a continual upping of the ante from both sides, how will the crisis unfold? Will Imran storm the prime minister’s residence? Will the Nawaz camp come up with a solution? Or will there come a point when the army will step in? Follow our updates from the day’s political happenings. --- Opposition’s efforts get nowhere --- The opposition parties failed in their efforts to reach out to the PTI and PAT and rumours went back and forth in the capital. Syed Khursheed Shah, leader of opposition, who held a meeting with other opposition leaders on Monday and Tuesday, told the journalists waiting outside his office in the parliament that he, along with other political parties, was in favour of the supremacy of the constitution, parliament and democracy. “Hence, we will try our best to facilitate mediation between the government and the PTI and PAT leaders,” he told the media. He hastened to add: “Our efforts are to ensure the sanctity of the parliament and constitution and not to defend the government.” When asked to explain, he said that the specific demands of PTI and PAT could only be addressed by the government. “All we can do is get the two sides to the table, and we want to do this because we want the prevailing political crisis to be resolved so that the threat to the system goes away.” However, he conceded that neither side was willing to bend — the government was not reaching out and the protesting parties were not willing to talk either. “We repeatedly contacted the PTI MNAs who promised to check with their head about a meeting and get back, but none of them ever did.” --- Two PTI workers question Imran’s call for civil disobedience --- Not only his rivals but also some of his staunch supporters have distanced themselves from Imran’s call for ‘civil disobedience’ and the removal of the PML-N government. Saeed Khurshid Ahmed, a PTI candidate for National Assembly seat NA-153 in the 2013 election, has conveyed his resentment to Imran over his call for the ‘civil disobedience’. In a letter addressed to the party chairman, Ahmed stated: “I had joined PTI for the reason that this party believed in merit, institutional freedom, justice and the rule of law…I felt it my moral obligation to convey my opinion to the PTI leadership though I am not part of the committee dealing with the situation. Since we are seeking an unconstitutional change, it will be disastrous and will definitely lead to a political turmoil and anarchy” K. Asif, a former president of the Insaf Students Federation (ISF), who has been with Imran for over a decade, also did not approve of the decision of his party chief. Asif, who resigned from the post of the ISF president last year but retained the membership of the party, said that the current leadership of the party appeared to have forgotten its slogan of bringing a change in a positive manner. He said newcomers had spoiled the image of the PTI by giving ill advices to Imran. --- PTI marchers given tips on how to face teargas shelling --- ‘Azadi’ marchers spent Tuesday preparing for entering the Red Zone. Some of the ‘Azadi’ marchers were seen sharing tips on how to protect themselves from the expected police teargas shelling. “You should keep with you masks, water and handkerchiefs to protect yourself from the teargas,” Mohammad Hanif, 40, a PAT worker from Lahore and a schoolteacher, told a group of youngsters from Peshawar. He said one could not control their tears in the wake of shelling and sometimes it would also create breathing problems. “You should carry a mask, a bottle of water and salt. I tried these ‘protective gears’ when the police opened teargas shelling in Model Town in June.”Dawn News
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 05:23:15 +0000
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