PM Imran Khan to play trump card after OIC moot: Sindh governor Imran Ismail

KARACHI: Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Saturday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will play the trump card after the upcoming OIC summit is held in Islamabad, adding that this will end all his worries regarding the no-confidence motion tabled against him.

He said this while speaking at a press conference at the Governor House and added that the trump card once played would enable the prime minister to emerge successful and more powerful to continue with his functions as the country’s chief executive.

The governor did not elaborate at all as to what he meant by the trump card to be used by the PM. To a question, he said the PM had been keeping the trump card very close to his chest as he (the PM) didn’t show it to anyone. “But, the entire world will see when the prime minister will show and play his trump card,” he added.

While responding to the threat issued by PPP’s Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to disrupt the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit to be held in Islamabad, the governor said that holding the OIC conference was in the best interest of Pakistan.

He said the OIC summit didn’t belong to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as it belonged to the country because the event was being hosted by Pakistan after a gap of 15 years.

“We will see as to who dares not allow this conference to take place. I want to say to Bilawal that I will also see who dares disrupt the OIC summit as the state will sternly deal with those trying to create disturbance in this regard,” he said. He further said the ruling PTI had given a chance to all its dissident legislators to reconsider their decision within seven days to come back and rejoin their party.

He said that the dissident lawmakers of PTI had left the party after stating that their conscience had suddenly awakened. “But I am at a complete loss to understand as in what manner their conscience has awakened all of a sudden,” he said.

He also advised the renegade lawmakers to come back and rejoin their parent party in accordance with the judgement of their true conscience.

He said that a dissident legislator of the PTI had left the party on such a flimsy issue that a PMT had not been installed in his constituency, while another lawmaker had become a renegade after making the announcement that he would wage struggle against corruption after joining hands with Asif Zardari and Mualana Fazlur Rehman.

He said that the conscience of these dissident legislators will be awakened once more after the PM emerges successful in the no-confidence move against him as afterwards, these renegade lawmakers would make an attempt to rejoin their parent party.

The governor said the attack on Sindh House in Islamabad was no doubt a condemnable act and this should not have taken place. He said the workers of PTI shouldn’t have been involved in violence and entered the Sindh House.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had immediately taken cognisance of the incident and directed the party’s workers not to get involved in such violent acts in future. “Whatever happened at the Sindh House in Islamabad was unlawful and condemnable but the thing is that as to what extent we could go to various areas and stop our workers from doing such acts,” he said.

He said the voters of the turncoat lawmakers were the best judge to hold their public representatives accountable after they had become dissident. He said the law didn’t allow any treasury lawmaker to vote against the government at the time of passage of the budget or akin to the no-confidence move against the chief executive, as such an act of voting against the party line automatically attracted the defection clause for the disqualification of a renegade legislator.

Naming the PTI’s dissident legislator elected on a seat reserved for minorities Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, he said MNA Vankwani was no one to ask the PM to resign as he had become disgruntled only after he hadn’t been offered any ministerial position by the present government.

The governor said that the PTI’s government despite having the state’s power and machinery at its disposal never made any attempt to buy the allegiance of the lawmakers to win the no-confidence vote against the PM.

He said that PM Imran Khan didn’t believe in purchasing the loyalties of the legislators through the use of state’s power or influence. To a question, he said that the imposition of the governor’s rule in a province would never be an advisable and suitable option on the part of PTI’s government despite the fact that affairs of governance in Sindh had been in shambles so much so that the people had been facing hardships due to the worsening of law and order situation and unavailability of the essential medicines.

The governor, however, reiterated his stance that he wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to impose the governor’s rule in the province, if such a directive had been issued to him by the PM. He recalled that the PPP’s past regime had imposed the governor’s rule in Punjab but now, the proposal to impose the governor’s rule in Sindh was no more acceptable to the PPP.

He said the PPP’s leaders should show utmost caution while responding to the recent incident at the Sindh House in Islamabad because the way they had been issuing statements could lead to the situation of a civil war.