ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan and Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed will be responsible for the consequences if police operation is conducted at Sindh House tonight, a trio of key Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders warned the PTI government on Friday.
In a joint statement, three former prime minister Makhoodm Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi urged the administration of Islamabad to remain alert and avoid being a part of the political activities.
The Sindh House is in the headlines since PTI leadership accused the Opposition of using the building as their centre for “horsetrading” and has hinted multiple times of action to stop this “unethical and illegal” activity.
Taking cognisance of the matter after federal ministers’ diatribe, the Opposition leaders asked the city administration to remain neutral in this issue.
“If police and administration become parties in the constitutional process of the no-confidence motion, it will be unconstitutional,” they said, warning that those who violate the constitution and those who help them should “be ready for the punishment.”
The trio was of the view that any sort of attack on the members of the National Assembly will be considered as an attack on the Parliament.
Recalling the crackdown at Parliament Lodges on March 10, the PPP and PML-N leaders asserted that the government will have to face severe repercussions in case any police operation is conducted in Sindh House.
Taking a jibe at PM Imran Khan, the political leaders said that the premier would not be able to bring 172 members to the National Assembly on the day of voting on the no-confidence motion.
They were of the view that the government is preparing to abduct members with the help of police and administration.
“The use of cheap tactics by the PTI-government is a proof that Imran Khan has lost the confidence of the majority,” they said, adding that those who attacked the Constitution, democracy and the Parliament will be held accountable.
The three senior leaders maintained that the silence of the Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser is proof that he is favouring a party leader rather than practising the principles of the constitution.