Asad Umar demand formation of a judicial commission on the ‘foreign conspiracy’
ISLAMABAD, June 15 (SABAH): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General and former minister for planning, development and special initiatives Asad Umar on Wednesday demanded the formation of a judicial commission on the “foreign conspiracy” allegedly carried out to topple the PTI government.
The demand comes during a press conference of the politician, flanked by senior PTI leader and former federal minister Dr. Shireen M. Mazari in Islamabad. The politician said that a member of the military leadership said in an interview that facts and opinion need to be set aside.
Referring to the cable that PTI government claimed to be a “written threat” to Pakistan, the politician said that the facts written in the cable suggested an open threat was being given to Pakistan that it will be isolated if Imran Khan is not removed from power.
He claimed that whatever he is saying is written in the press releases issued after both the National Security Committee’s (NSC) meetings. He said that “foreign interference” has been clearly stated in the press releases. “[The] DG ISPR is right in saying that some of the military leadership representatives actually said that they cannot see any evidence of a conspiracy. Most of the civilian leadership said there was a conspiracy,” Umar said.
He said that the army alone is not responsible to defend national security, but the elected government as well. Asad Umar said that he believes that “it would be better for the army and the country if the Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) director-general doesn’t find it necessary to interpret political affairs again and again.”
Asad Umar said that it would be better for the army and the country if the Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) director-general does not interpret political affairs.
Asad Umar said that the facts written in the cable suggested an open threat was being given to Pakistan that if the no-confidence motion fails, Pakistan would have to pay the price and if Imran Khan is shown the door, then Pakistan will be forgiven. Asad Umar said Chairman Imran Khan will again write to Supreme Court to constitute a judicial panel and hold a transparent inquiry into the matter.
Meanwhile, Shireen Mazari said that it was an opinion that it was an interference not a conspiracy, but saying those who disagree with this opinion are telling lies is an insult.
She said that “they” also said that an investigation was conducted and a report was presented but no such report was presented in the NSC meeting where the cipher was discussed.
She said that PTI raised a major question on the point on which the cipher started — which meant that the decision to visit Russia was solely Imran Khan’s — but it hasn’t been responded to as yet.
“There was a consensus of the entire establishment and retired ambassadors on the visit at the time on who fed the wrong information to the US government that they started the cipher with this matter,” Mazari said.
She said that the party is preparing a list and compiling incidents before the no-confidence motion on when and which American embassy officials met the PTI dissidents and Noor Alam.
“Why did they meet Raja Riaz. Did they meet to discuss foreign policy?” she asked.
Mazari further stated that the third question was why then foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was kept unaware about the cipher. The cipher was shown to the foreign minister only when he demanded, she added.
“If the military leadership found that it was an interference while the entire civilian leadership believed it was a conspiracy then someone has to find the answer on this.”
Mazari said that the nation wants to know who made the conspiracy and who was involved in it because it ruined the economy of Pakistan, while a political turmoil persists in Punjab.
PTI leader Babar Awan, Shahbaz Gill, Hammad Azhar and Ali Awan also took to Twitter to share their reactions to the statement of the ISPR chief.
Imran’s chief of staff, Shahbaz Gill, called for an open hearing by the top court and said the letter sent by the envoy to the US should be produced before the public along with the minutes of the meeting. “This will clear up everything,” he added.
He asked whether the services chiefs, during the NSC meeting, endorsed the demarche to the US and acknowledged the letter as ‘foreign interference’. “If the answer is yes, then why are they giving such explanations,” he added.
Azhar, while talking to reporters, urged for snap polls and reiterated that the PML-N government came to power through foreign interference. He said he could use the word ‘interference’ instead of ‘conspiracy’, but that did not change the fact that the incumbent government was brought to power through a foreign state’s interference.
In a tweet, Babar Awan also urged the Supreme Court to probe the alleged conspiracy so “foreign and local” elements involved in this alleged conspiracy could be exposed. “This is an issue of national interest,” he added.