Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, who is also the secretary general of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on Wednesday described the May 9 riots as a “conspiracy” against party founder Imran Khan.
Addressing a seminar organized by the opposition on protecting the Constitution of Pakistan, he claimed his party’s one-point agenda was the “supremacy of the Constitution and law,” adding Khan had vowed to not compromise on this vision. Rejecting a press conference of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Maj. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry in which he had said there could be no dialogue unless the perpetrators and facilitators of the May 9 riots apologized to the nation, he said the Constitution bars the armed forces from interfering in political affairs.
“DG ISPR, you are a protector, not the owner of the state,” he said, stressing actual power rested with the people and their elected representatives. Rejecting the military’s spokesman call for a judicial inquiry into the PTI’s 2014 sit-in, he said the military should first make public the inquiries into the Army Public School attack and the proceedings of the Abbottabad Commission.
Lamenting the registration of dozens of cases against Khan, Ayub said his party’s leadership was implicated in various dubious cases in a bid to pressure them. Describing this as part of the “London plan,” he said Khan had alleged this was aimed at keeping him out of politics for the next decade. He also sought to dampen a statement of PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat on Saudi Arabia’s alleged complicity in the ouster of Imran Khan by saying the party “welcomed” its Saudi brethren and encouraged foreign investment in the country.
In his turn at the podium, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said public movements result from the imposition of martial law and the suspension of the Constitution, alleging that the Constitution was “practically eliminated” in the country presently. He also rejected an impression of the PTI’s involvement in anti-state conspiracies, claiming this was an attempt to “mislead” the nation. He said his party supported amendments for appointments to the judiciary, but would oppose any bid to increase or decrease the retirement age of judges.
Other PTI leaders also lashed out the Army and security establishment, stressing on the need for all institutions to adhere strictly to their constitutional roles. Hamid Khan claimed that if the 1956 Constitution were not suspended, East Pakistan would not have separated from the country, warning the country was divided because the state had not accepted their mandate. Sardar Khosa, meanwhile, said the state consisted of the people and government functionaries were their employees. “You are employees; you are not even an institution. Everyone must follow the Constitution, even if they are the chief justice or army chief,” he said.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who claimed people had started their struggle for “freedom”, led the seminar. He warned that if anyone tried to enforce martial law or amend the Constitution, the opposition would stage demonstrations nationwide.