News Analysis |
The prime minister Imran Khan issued the directives during a meeting he presided with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and other coalition parties.
The former President was arrested on June 10 after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected his pre-arrest bail. He was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for further investigation. Asif Zardari is accused on money laundering charges through the creation of fake bank accounts, causing heavy losses to the national exchequer.
The PM has also been quoted saying that nowhere in the world are criminals invited on production orders to the legislative assemblies to address the nation or slam the institutions. PM Khan also made it clear that those thieves and robbers shall meet their fate as ‘these people have destroyed my country’.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and leader of the opposition in the NA, Shehbaz Shareef has already demanded production orders for their political ally, Asif Zardari.
Moreover, Bilawal chaired a consultation meeting in Islamabad on Wednesday and directed the party delegation, led by former PPP prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, to request National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to implement on the rules of the lower house of parliament and issue the production order for the party’s co-chairman.
The delegation also requested the speaker to issue production orders for Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, the PTM leaders who have been arrested for provoking violence against state institutions. But the speaker has reportedly refused to issue the orders for both PTM leaders. Meanwhile, he reportedly committed to issue the orders for Zardari, however, it could not be materialized.
Read more: Asif Zardari’s arrest: Political Implications?
Later on, prominent leaders from PPP were seen protesting against the speaker and demanding the issuance of production orders.
PPP MNA’s & Senators are protesting for production orders of Asif Ali Zardari at Speaker Office National Assembly of Pakistan 🇵🇰#WeStandWithAsifAliZardari #WeStandWithFaryalTalpur pic.twitter.com/QtAceZQkY9
— MPA Munwar Ali Wassan (@ayoub_kandhro) June 17, 2019
Well-placed sources claim that during the party meetings, PTI’s lawmakers were seen divided on the question of production orders for Zardari. Some senior member suggested the prime minister not to aggravate the problem and let the speaker issue the production orders. However, many leaders opposed the proposal and maintained that since the opposition is misusing such facilitation and painting an anti-government and anti-institution image before the nation from the floor of the national assembly therefore there must not be any relief given to such lot.
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Sources also maintain how sooner or later the speaker will have to issue the production orders since the PPP has decided to put more pressure on the government. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and leader of the opposition in the NA, Shehbaz Shareef has already demanded production orders for their political ally, Asif Zardari. “I want to demand the speaker of the assembly to immediately issue production orders for Asif Ali Zardari,” he inquired.
Analysts believe that it is highly likely that the production orders shall be issued in a day or so.