No commission, no talks: Omar

ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan Wednesday warned that there would be no negotiations if the commissions on May 9 and November 26 incidents were not formed.

Speaking to the media outside the Parliament House along with the PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and other lawmakers, he said, “The plot they have created on Al-Qadir University is a stupid drama due to which the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were imprisoned. At present, there is pressure on the judiciary.”

He claimed that the ‘Form-47 regime’ did not have the courage to compete with the opposition in the House. Omar said the opposition launched such a vigorous protest in the NA that Shehbaz Sharif could not pluck up the courage to speak.

“Several days have passed when the third round of talks was held but this Form-47 regime could not arrange our meeting with our leader Imran Khan in an unmonitored environment despite making a promise,” he regretted. He alleged that the PPP and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari shed crocodile tears over the information technology saying the PPP’s duplicity came to light when they voted with PMLN and MQM on the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill.

Speaking on the occasion, Barrister Gohar posed a question: “How many hours and days has the National Assembly actually been in session? This is the shortest time in the year that it took to complete the session. Today, 89 days have passed. During this period, only 37 legislations were made of which 29 are government bills, while the rest are private member bills.”

Meanwhile, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram denounced what he called the smear and relentless campaign against Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi. He vowed that notorious elements were bent on hurting Khan and his mission but they would not succeed in their nefarious designs.

In a statement, Akram lashed out at the wicked elements for their continued attacks on the PTI founding chairman’s family, categorically stating that ‘enough is enough’ since their nonsensical social media activities and venomous propaganda against Khan’s family had deeply hurt the sentiments of Pakistanis. He termed attack on Bushra Bibi reprehensible and condemnable, adding that such baseless and hurtful accusations would not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Separately, PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat said those who voted for the 26th Amendment should see the condition of the Supreme Court. Talking to the media outside the Parliament House, Marwat said one bench files a case and the next day it becomes contempt of court. “Our first demand should be the release of political prisoners and the second should be judicial commission; their time to appeal to the president will come soon,” he noted.

Marwat said the law minister should save this opportunity for the “Mian Sahibaan” when the justice system would be restored and cases against them would be revived. “If the talks fail, we will be on the streets. They have come to power through a fake way so that they can loot,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the government negotiating committee, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, said a written response would be given to the PTI on January 28.

“No decision on formation of a judicial commission on PTI’s demand has yet been made,” he said while talking to The News after the sub-committee meeting held in the Speaker’s Chamber at the Parliament House. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Privatization Abdul Aleem Khan, Adviser to PM on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Dr Farooq Sattar, Ijazul Haq, Khalid Magsi and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Chaudhry Salik.

Talking to The News, Siddiqui said they had to convey to the speaker that the government response would be ready by January 27 and the Speaker may convene the fourth round of talks with the PTI on January 28. He was hopeful that the PTI will attend the fourth round and will not have any excuse.

Talking to the media, committee member Ijazul Haq said the PTI’s demands were discussed in detail and legal matters were also looked into but the response on these had not been prepared yet.