Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, in a news conference, said that the collaborators in the “foreign-funded conspiracy” should be charged with treason, and their political parties should be banned. He underlined that there were only four ways forward.
“Number one is that the establishment intervenes and holds early elections. Number two, the parties which conspired against the government in the “foreign-funded conspiracy” should be charged with treason and declared terrorist outfits. Third, if an early election is not called, all the members of the PTI should submit their formal resignation.”
Talking about the last point, he suggested inviting the establishment, but mid-sentence segued into another tangent. He said that “the institutions in Pakistan are very prestigious; we have worked hard to build these institutions” he further added that “there was no other way to progress than to hold elections.” Talking to the media, he said that the political situation would change by the hour.
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He further added that if the president directs, the Prime Minister, even after losing the vote of no confidence, can continue on his seat till a suitable candidate is selected and takes the oath to replace the sitting Prime Minister, he further added that article 94 was very clear on that. However, he underlined that the constitution was silent on the duration of the extension provided to the Prime Minister; it can be eight days, it can be 10.
Talking about corruption charges against the members of the opposition, he said, “it was very unfortunate that the father and son duo who were supposed to be indicted in Rs.16 billion money laundering case, those thieves and dacoits were potential candidates for federal and provincial seats.” He further added that he wanted to unveil the true face of these dacoits and thieves. Addressing the media conference, the minister said that the public did not even want to look at their faces.
Here is my one-glance dissection of the official anti-climax of the “written threat” to Pakistan and “the foreign-funded conspiracy” to overthrow the Imran govt through the opposition’s motion. Our brave-hearts don’t even name the country (The US). Nor the official who said it🙂 pic.twitter.com/B8cgdICdxt
— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) March 31, 2022
While mentioning the dissident members, the interior minister said that these people could not even go to their constituencies and face the people, “how could these people represent the nation”.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also initiated strict action against the dissident members. As many as 22 dissident members came forth to join hands with the opposition. Shortly after reports emerged of members of the ruling party joining hands with the opposition, PTI submitted a proposal before the Supreme Court demanding a legal interpretation of article 63-A from the apex court.
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In another announcement, the interior minister announced that he might join the television industry as an anchor after Ramazan.