Last updated on August 27th, 2024 at 07:59 pm
ISLAMABAD: The Defence Minister and senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz -Khawaja Muhammad Asif-, on Thursday has warned about an imminent “constitutional meltdown” in Pakistan. Speaking during Geo News’ program ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, Asif said a breakdown of the constitution could be imminent but refrained from elaborating. He made it clear that his warning was not a prelude to any martial law but called for political resolution of the political issues.
Asif has admitted that the PML-N government has been impatient in taking the decision to ban PTI. He said, “Any decision regarding a ban on PTI should be taken after broad consensus among the allies. The process should be more consultative”.
Addressing the perceptions that the current rulers are encouraging an institutional fightback against PTI founding leader Imran Khan, Asif rejected such impressions. He termed PTI’s post-ouster fightback as a serious threat to the country and accused it of getting full backing from the US, which includes hiring lobbyists to get support.
He further appeared on another news channel, on which he vowed that PML-N would take all possible steps to safeguard the present government. In such perspective, he showed apprehension concerning the move to annul upcoming elections. He said that the government would do all it could to avoid such outcomes.
He also ruled out the possibility of any immediate release of Imran Khan and slammed the PTI for refusing the offers of dialogue extended by PM Shehbaz Sharif. He said, “Though uncertainty still persists in the country, it does not necessarily point toward the collapse of the system.”.
He further criticized the judiciary, mentioning that most of the recent decisions have been contradictory and always in favor of PTI. He also accused PTI of doing anti-national activities for the last 18 months.
Regarding ‘Azm-e-Istehkam’, newly launched by PML-N, Asif rebuffed the criticism by stating that PML-N could not wait until all political factions agree on a consensus while the military continues to suffer casualties.
He finally brought up dispelling misconceptions about PML-N President Nawaz Sharif by saying that he remains dynamically engaged in party strategy and decision-making. Equating Imran Khan with the US presidential candidate Donald Trump, having gone through similar processes of facing courts and imprisonment was another point brought forward by Asif.
Another point pointed out by Asif was that Fitch Ratings is a credit ranking agency that takes political stability into consideration while determining the credit ranking of any country.