- Fawad Chaudhry asks PML-N to justify foreign visits on state expense
An adjournment motion was submitted to the National Assembly on Monday by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to discuss the recent visit of Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and some federal ministers to London.
The move comes after the top leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) converged in the British capital for a key consultative meeting to decide both the party’s and the government’s position on what steps to take next.
Besides PM Abbasi, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also flew to London on Sunday to meet the ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who had flown back from Saudi Arabia along with his son Hussain the same day.
PTI MNA Murad Saeed submitted the draft of the motion, saying that he would like to table a motion for the adjournment of the business of the lower house to discuss an urgent matter.
He sought a clarification from the government over the visit of the premier, along with a delegation of federal ministers, to London. He alleged that the purpose of the visit was to meet former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who had been declared disqualified by the Supreme Court (SC) in its historic July 28 judgment.
The PTI leader submitted that the visiting PML-N leaders had no right to use taxpayers’ money to visit a disqualified person. He added that he wanted the Parliament to take notice of the unjustified expenditure by the premier and his aides.
He also demanded that the lower house should suspend its businesses to seek an explanation from the prime minister and his fellow federal ministers who had visited London.
Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry came down hard on PML-N leadership for holding a meeting in London to settle party matters on state expense.
He questioned PML-N leaders asking them to justify the expenses that were being incurred while travelling abroad.
Taking a jibe at the finance minister, the PTI leader stated that Ishaq Dar travelled to Tajikistan in a special plane, incurring extra cost worth millions burdening the finance department further.
Chaudhry criticised the PML-N leadership, who remains busy attending meetings in London, while the country continues to face challenges on various fronts.
He said that Sharif’s London plan has failed to materialise, adding that the ruling family was seeking another National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to go unpunished on graft charges.
He announced that his party would raise the issue in the parliament calling for a debate on the issue pertaining to ministers’ foreign visits on state’s expense and provision of official protocol to the former prime minister in London.
Chaudhry claimed that Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK welcomed Sharif on his arrival in London but argued that ruling PM Abbasi did not receive the same protocol.
Moreover, PTI leader Shafqat Mehmood also questioned the reason behind PML-N’s high-level meeting in London and asked if another ‘London plan’ was being formulated.
He also asked if the party has shifted to London, as Nawaz did not hold the meeting in Pakistan and returned to the UK from Saudi Arabia.
“What is the secret reason for calling the leadership to London?” he asked.
He also reiterated his party’s stance and demanded Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s resignation as a warrant for his arrest has been issued. He said that “it is strange that Dar is still at his current position in the finance ministry.”
Criticising Nawaz and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, the Shafqat Mehmood said that corruption by the two leaders also comes under treason, and added that the world knows how much wealth they have accumulated now as compared to before.
The PTI leader had earlier claimed that the PML-N is falling apart and that there was an ongoing power struggle within the party.