ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the government has ordered the civilian intelligence agencies to monitor the lawmakers ahead of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, said well-placed sources. The sources privy to the matter said that the development came during a meeting of the ruling PTI’s political committee held with PM Imran Khan in the chair today in Islamabad.
The spy agencies have been directed to monitor the lawmakers’ location, movement and record their phone calls. The prime minister also directed strict monitoring of the Sindh House after reports surfaced that around 12 disgruntled MNAs of the ruling PTI are in the “safe custody” of the Opposition.
The intelligence agencies have been directed to submit the report to the PM on a daily basis. Meanwhile, PM Imran has tasked Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to woo the disgruntled lawmakers of the ruling party to thwart the Opposition’s no-trust move.
Matters relating to the no-confidence motion, horse-trading, current political situation in the country and other issues were also discussed in the political committee meeting. The meeting agreed to convene the National Assembly session on March 21 and empowered the premier to take the final decision in this regard. A legal team also briefed the participants on convening the NA session for voting on the no-trust motion against the premier.
Ahead of voting on the no-trust motion, the meeting suggested the prime minister to call in a parliamentary party meeting of the PTI to identify the defiant and “missing” lawmakers of the party.
The meeting also decided that the Sindh House will not be allowed to become the hub of horse-trading, the sources added.
The Sindh House is in the news after a federal minister accused the PPP of using the building for its “nefarious designs”.
On March 14, Federal Minister Ali Zaidi had claimed that the PPP has deployed additional SSU commandos at the building “to protect the bags of looted wealth #ZardariMafia brought to try & bribe our MNAs!”
Following up on his statement, the PTI minister also wrote a letter to Secretary Establishment demanding immediate inquiry on SSU Sindh DIG Maqsood Memon.
A day earlier, Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi had claimed that 10-12 government lawmakers were in “safe custody” of the Opposition as the political temperature in the country rises ahead of the no-confidence motion.
In an interview to private, the PML-Q leader — whose party is a key ally of the PTI in the Centre and Punjab — had said: “The 10-12 government lawmakers also approached me, but now they are nowhere to be seen.”
“We have tracked them down; they are in the Opposition’s safe custody. The government is actually more concerned about them. The ones who they looked forward to [for support] have stated they are now neutral. No friendly country or institution will come near this matter,” he had claimed.
