LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi says Imran Khan’s decision to postpone the civil disobedience movement must not be seen as a sign of weakness but an opportunity to pull the country out of the political stalemate and a step towards normalisation.

Giving this statement in an open letter sent to Dawn on Saturday, Mr Qureshi asserted that the lawmakers from the ruling PML-N and opposition PTI had finally come to the conclusion that talks were the only way forward.

“The saner voices on both sides have said the system cannot run if the government and the opposition do not hold a dialogue,” Mr Qureshi added.

Referring to the rising tide of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, hidden hands behind insurgency in Balochistan, increase in the number of people living below the poverty line, Mr Qureshi said incarcerated Imran Khan had shown flexibility and constituted a five-member committee to engage with the government.

Says Imran showed flexibility by forming committee to hold dialogue

The incarcerated PTI leader stated that the demand for judicial probe or release of innocent political workers was not like asking for a political favour but a suggestion for a way forward. He said granting bail to an accused after a year-and-a-half in jail was perfectly legal and not a political favour.

“The trials of those accused in May 9 cases must be expedited, but until that happens, let Shah Mahmood Qureshi stay in and let Dr Yasmin Rashid, a 74-year-old cancer survivor, go home till the case is finally decided,” Mr Qureshi appealed.

He said the fair trial was a fundamental right and no one should be deprived of it as ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’.

The former minister said the people of Pakistan had paid a huge price to move towards economic stability, which was fragile and could be easily lost with continued political instability. He said the State Bank’s decision to reduce interest rates would not be enough to restore business confidence and domestic investment without achieving political stability.

“If economic stability is linked to political stability, we are far from it yet,” Shah Mahmood Qureshi asserted.

“By fixing the minimum wage at Rs37,000 per month in the recent budget and increasing the salaries of provincial ministers of Punjab from Rs100,000 to Rs960,000 — an increase of 860 per cent — we are sending wrong signals to the IMF and the people of Pakistan,” he said and lamented that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s proposal to hike gas prices by 26pc would be like rubbing salt on people’s wounds.

Though Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman met on Saturday and the former assured issuing of Madrassah Bill notification, Mr Qureshi in his letter from jail had written, earlier, that Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s threatening speech in the National Assembly would further undermine the political stability in the country. Mr Rehman had threatened that the government should be ready for the debate to move from “Aiwan to Maidan” if the gazette notification was not issued immediately.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2024