Federal Cabinet decides to constitute a commission to investigate foreign conspiracy regarding regime-change in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, April 08 (SABAH): The Federal Cabinet has decided to constitute a commission to investigate the foreign conspiracy regarding regime-change in Pakistan.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said this while briefing media in Islamabad on Friday about the decisions taken by the Federal Cabinet, which met in Islamabad with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the commission to be headed by Lt. General retired Tariq Khan will be mandated to investigate threats of regime change in Pakistan from some foreign countries.
He said the commission will also investigate the local handlers of this conspiracy.
He said all the material concerning the foreign conspiracy will be placed before all the members of the National Assembly.
He said that the commission would show that the communique does exist, after the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif claimed that it was fake.
According to Fawad, the commission would also investigate if the threat of a “regime change” is present in the communique.
“Thirdly, it will aim to discover who were the local handlers who took this plan further and where the conspiracy originated from,” he said, adding that it was impossible for all MNAs to be involved in it.
The minister further said that the government will present the record and witnesses of the ‘foreign conspiracy’ against Prime Minister Imran Khan to all parliamentarians.
“The original records will be given to MNAs as well as those sacrificed for the no-confidence cause, and if they still continue with the vote then the people of Pakistan will decide who stands where,” Fawad said.
Comparing Mir Jafar giving way to the East India Company – which ultimately led to British rule across the subcontinent – to the current situation in Pakistan, Fawad claimed that if the country did not defend its independence, then it would return to slavery.
The minister maintained that an “imported, selected government” would be imposed and controlled from outside the country, rendering Pakistan unable to make its own decisions.
Fawad Chaudhry said Friday that Lieutenant General (retd) Tariq Khan will lead the commission that will probe the “threat letter” — sent allegedly from the United States.
In a post-cabinet meeting press conference, the information minister said the commission would present its report within 90 days after it investigates how many dissident MPs were in contact with foreign powers.
“We have evidence of eight dissident MPAs being in contact with foreign dignitaries,” Fawad said, adding: “The commission will look at a connection between local handlers and regime change.”
Talking about Supreme Court’s decision of setting aside Deputy Speaker’s ruling in the no-confidence resolution against the Prime Minister, Chaudhry Fawad said the government is considering filing a review petition and availing other legal options in this regard. He said the parliament’s supremacy had been transferred to the Supreme Court as he urged the apex court to review its decision.
Fawad said the top court and the parliament have their separate functions and announced that the PTI-led government was mulling filing a review petition against the SC’s decision.
“The court can’t call the deputy speaker’s ruling unconstitutional without going through the contents it [the ruling] was based on,” Fawad Chaudhry contended.
The federal minister said the cabinet members reassured the prime minister of their trust in his leadership and vowed to stand with him till the very end.
During his talk Fawad Chaudhry also called out the Election Commission of Pakistan for its “irresponsible statement” on holding fresh polls.
“The federal cabinet has categorically expressed reservations on the announcement by ECP in which it claimed that elections can’t be held before seven months.”
He hypothetically asked that had the PM called early elections before the no-confidence movement, would the electoral body’s decision be the same.
“The cabinet has, therefore, taken notice of the conduct of the chief election commissioner and the ECP,” he pointed out, adding that the government had been pushing ECP to prepare for elections since two years and even offered it assistance in the delimitation process.