Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should have stopped Defence Minister Khawaja Asif from using foul language in parliament.
On Monday, the joint session of parliament saw stormy scenes as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ended its seven-month-long boycott of parliament. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif criticised the PTI members on their return, saying they had no right to come back to the same house which they had been criticising during their protests.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament House on Tuesday, Qureshi said that his party showed extreme patience in response to Khawaja Asif s foul language. He said that most members of the ruling PML-N thought that the return of PTI in the assembly would strengthen democracy. “Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also intends to resolve matters through dialogue but Khawaja Asif has tried to derail the process,” he said, calling Asif’s statements “extremely disgraceful”.
Qureshi said that Asif panicked because rigging had also taken place in his constituency in the 2013 general elections. “The defence minister’s statements were of no value which is why all members in the House ignored them,” he added.
The senior PTI leader further said that the federal government does not have a clear policy on Yemen. “What happened in Monday’s joint session clearly reflects confusion of the government on the Yemen issue for which the session was convened,” he said.
