PTI, allied parties’ MNAs attend PM’s luncheon

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday threw a luncheon in the honour of the ruling coalition members of the National Assembly and predicted victory of the government candidate from Islamabad Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

The luncheon was attended by the members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, allies, MQM-Pakistan, Balochistan Awami Party, PML, GDA, Jamhoori Watan Party and independents. It was learnt that nearly 180 legislators attended the event.

The PML was represented by Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema and Ms. Farrukh Khan. “If some of PML lawmakers are not present today, it does not mean, they are not with us and will not vote for our candidate,” commented a senior PTI lawmaker, when this was pointed out to him.

Addressing the luncheon, Imran said, “We are competing with thieves. Victory will be ours. We did not have an effective voice in the Senate due to low representation there and if we get sizeable number of senators after this election, there will be voice and legislation.”

He made it clear that it was because of corruption that he did not join hands with the opposition, which wanted the old rotten and corrupt system to continue at the cost of the masses. He promised to have regular interaction with the lawmakers, as major issues had been settled and the main was on the economic front, besides the coronavirus.

Referring to the Senate elections, the premier said how he could give NRO to corrupt people about whom the judiciary also knew that votes were stolen. He then referred to the initiatives taken by the government to bring about transparency in the Senate elections.

He said the opposition will invest money but Hafeez Sheikh will win against the PDM candidate. He noted that the opposition did not support the FATF legislation and tried to blackmail the government. But, he noted, the government managed to do a lot and would resolve the related issues.

He reiterated his resolve and commitment to provide relief to people in remaining term of his government after having successfully handled major crises. Addressing the MNAs of Karachi, he said the conscience of three MPAs had awakened on that day, just ahead of elections. Earlier, these MPAs did not remember these issues.

He said the PTI had decided to respond to the letter of opposition alliance candidate Yusuf Raza Gilani. National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser joined the event late while Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri was present along with the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Fauzia Arshad, both PTI candidates from Islamabad, also briefly addressed the luncheon.

A delegation of MQM legislators also met the prime minister and discussed with him political matters, particularly the Karachi package, and urged for speeding up the pace of work on it. The prime minister received at the Parliament House Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood, MNAs Raja Riaz Ahmed, Raza Nasrullah Ghuman, Khurram Shehzad, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Special Assistant Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar.

Likewise, MNAs Tahir Sadiq, Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Syed Faizul Hassan, Chaudhry Shaukat Ali Bhatti, Syed Mubeen Ahmed, Zahoor Hussain Qureshi, Prince Muhammad Nawaz, Sher Akbar Khan, Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, Nawabzada Shah Zain Bugti, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Federal Minister Asad Umar, MNAs Ms. Sobia Kamal Khan, Ms. Sajida Begum, Ms. Nusrat Wahid, Ms. Kanwal Shauzab, Makhdoom Samiul Hassan, Riaz Fatyana, Federal Minister Khusro Bakhtiar, Lal Chand, Shaneela Rath, Dr. Ramesh Kumar, J. Prakash, Jamshed Thomas, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Abdul Ghaffar Wattoo and Member Provincial Assembly Fida Hussain also called on the prime minister.

MNAs Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, Muhammad Yaqub Sheikh, Khawaja Shiraz Mahmood, Ahmad Hussain Dehar, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, Sardar Talib Hussain Nikai, Rahat Amanullah Bhatti, and Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar also met the prime minister.