It is evident now that the prime minister was involved in Panamagate
PTI started its movement after consulting all the opposition parties and still we are in contact with them. It seems that Tahir-ul-Qadri is also determined this time to make his ‘retribution movement’ successful because the political situation suits him to run his movement rigorously
Almost all the major political parties of the opposition are in agitation mode in Pakistan since the Panamagate scandal surfaced on the arena of world politics some four months ago. The chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has demanded the resignation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as his family members had offshore accounts while the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has also launched a countrywide agitation movement seeking resignation of the PM. Moreover, Tahir-ul-Qadri has also announced his ‘retribution movement’ to get justice for the Model Town tragedy in which 14 people were killed by the Punjab Police. Being the largest province of the country, Punjab is going to be the main focus of all the political parties as 146 seats of National Assembly are here in the Punjab and any political party can easily form its government in Islamabad after conquering Punjab.
DNA got an opportunity to sit with leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed to know the future line of action of his party and the opposition in Punjab. Rasheed started his political career from the platform of Jamaat-e-Islami in the ‘80s and was elected as the Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) from Lahore in the elections of 1988 and 1990. He joined PTI in 1997 and played an important role in Imran Khan’s first large public gathering of 2011 at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan as he was the president of PTI Lahore at that time. Rasheed is considered among the close confidants of Imran Khan as he was nominated as leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly by Khan after the general elections of 2013. He was elected as MPA from one of the constituencies of Lahore in 2013 and has been working as the parliamentary leader of PTI and leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly since then.
Question: What are the main objectives of PTI’s ‘accountability movement’? Why is PTI in agitation mode since the incumbent government came into power in 2013?
Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed: The main objective of PTI’s accountability movement is to make aware the general public regarding the plundering of our rulers. In last seventy years, billions of rupees have been transferred to foreign countries illegally by our rulers and the time has come to hold them accountable. Every political party has clearly mentioned in its election manifesto that the plundered money will be brought back into the national exchequer but nothing has been done in this regard. The agitation course of PTI has helped the masses a lot as the general public knows very well about its fundamental rights today and all this happened after PTI became a mainstream political party.
Q: When will your accountability movement gain success? What are those quantifiable signs which will show us that your movement has gained success?
MMR: It is evident now that the prime minister was involved in Panamagate as his family members have given contradictory statements to defend him. The resignation of the prime minister for a free and fair probe of Panamagate will be a sign of our successful accountability movement. I am sure that the PM will resign after the pressure of general public and all the opposition parties are protesting seeking the resignation of Nawaz Sharif.
Q: Have you invited other parties of the opposition to join your movement? It was seen last time during your sit-in days that Tahir-ul-Qadri ditched you as he ended his sit-in without taking PTI into confidence. What will be your policy if Qadri does the same this time?
MMR: PTI started its movement after consulting all the opposition parties and still we are in contact with them. It seems that Tahir-ul-Qadri is also determined this time to make his ‘retribution movement’ successful because the political situation suits him to run his movement rigorously. PTI will not call off its movement if Qadri announces to end his movement as we’ll take the corrupt rulers to their logical end.
Q: According to the PML-N, Imran Khan and his PTI only want the prime minister to resign on the pretext of this movement and democracy will be derailed if PTI continues its agitation mode. Do you really want to derail the system?
MMR: PTI is a democratic party and it believes in the rule of law. We only want positive reforms in the system. Nawaz Sharif must resign and he can come back after the Supreme Court exonerates him. The monster of corruption has weakened the fundamentals of this country and we want this evil to be uprooted.
Q: What options can be exercised by PTI to make this movement successful? When is this movement being brought to Lahore?
MMR: We’ll use all the options available with us to make this movement successful. We’ll approach the judiciary, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate inquires against the prime minister and his family. PTI is also planning to give another sit-in and the option of en masse resignation is also on the cards. Imran Khan has planned to launch protest rallies in different cities and the rally is coming to Lahore on 3 September.
The leader of the house in Punjab Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has attended the assembly sessions just for 15 times in last three years and he claims that he is a democrat. The strength of democracy lies with the parliament while our rulers always avoid attending the assembly sessions
Q: Why has Imran Khan started criticising the National Accountability Bureau in recent days? What are your expectations from NAB?
MMR: Our institution made for accountability has failed to deliver in the past and therefore Imran Khan is urging NAB to perform its duties effectively. As many as 150 cases are pending with NAB since long and Imran Khan wants these all cases to be decided in the shortest span of time. NAB has dared to initiate inquiries against Mian Masha and Rana Mashood but NAB had to stop all such inquiries because of the pressure from Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif.
Q: You gave a marathon speech in the budget session of Punjab Assembly this year. What prompted you to speak for more than three hours? Are you satisfied with the working of the Punjab government?
MMR: Being the opposition leader, it was my duty to speak about the policies of the government and therefore I took my time to talk in detail. Punjab is the most populated province of Pakistan where more than 100 million people live and this province is in miserable condition these days because of poor policies of its rulers. In this province, more than 12 million children are out of school while it is the responsibility of the state to provide free education to the children of 5-15 years of age as per the Article 25-A of the constitution of Pakistan. There are 57,998 schools in the province and there is no clean drinking water in 6,220 schools while the rulers are claiming that they have changed the fate of this province.
Q: In the last few months, hundreds of children have been kidnapped from different cities of the Punjab. What is your take on the law and order situation of the province?
MMR: Despite the tall claims of good governance by the rulers, 706 women were raped while 342 children were kidnapped in one year. As many as 43,918 police officials are deputed to provide security to VVIPs personalities in the province. The implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) is also in the doldrums as the banned outfits are rampant throughout the province; especially in the southern Punjab. The government must follow identical policies in all the provinces. The Rangers are deployed in Sindh while the government is reluctant to deploy them in Punjab to give an impression that all is well in the province.
Q: The session of the Punjab Assembly is going start from next week. What will be your line of action in this session?
MMR: I am in constant contact with the parliamentary leaders of Pakistan Muslim League Q, Pakistan People’s Party and Jamaat-e-Islami to craft a joint strategy for this session. The combined opposition of Punjab is going to give a very tough time to the rulers from Monday in the Punjab Assembly.
The leader of the house in Punjab Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has attended the assembly sessions just for 15 times in last three years and he claims that he is a democrat. The strength of democracy lies with the parliament while our rulers always avoid attending the assembly sessions.
Q: Should Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif seek an extension? What is the stance of PTI regarding his extension?
MMR: General Raheel Sharif has set a great example by announcing that he will not seek any extension in his tenure. There is a need to strengthen our institutions rather than personalities and now the government must reciprocate his gesture by not giving him an extension.
