Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday claimed there were reports that the National Assembly was being run on “phone calls” which he described as an “anomaly” in the country.
“You are seeing what has been happening in parliament for the past three days. Two days ago, BAP (Balochistan Awami Party) said that the assembly is being run on phone calls. A day earlier, Fehmida Mirza said the same thing,” he said at a media talk outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) alongside PTI leaders Shireen Mazari and Asad Umar. Fawad was referring to comments made by Aslam Bhootani, an independent MNA from Gwadar, during the budget debate in the NA earlier this week.
In the media briefing, Fawad claimed that the assembly was no longer independent as its “biased” speaker was running a “biased” session. “This news has caused an anomaly in the country,” he stated, stressing that for economic stability, it was extremely important for Pakistan to be politically stable.
Fawad said Pakistan’s Constitution had been “abandoned” since May 25, claiming that none of the functions in the state were being performed as per the Constitution. “Why isn’t the Supreme Court hearing the reference filed by Faisal Vawda? Why isn’t it forming a commission on the cipher despite several letters by the president? “What will you achieve out of isolating PTI? Are you expecting the country’s biggest political party to form militant wings? Are you expecting it to engage in bloodshed?” he asked.
All these things, the former minister said, were causing a crisis in the country. “And the only way out is to hold fresh elections. Political stability comes when you abide by the Constitution. And that happens when you go towards fresh elections.” Meanwhile, PTI secretary general Asad Umar claimed that the Punjab government was just counting its days and would soon come to an end. “The court’s order is out on reserved seats. We have submitted an application demanding ECP to issue the notification on these seats because there is an illegal government in Punjab right now,” he said. Umar claimed that the PML-N government was trying to rig the polls on these seats. “When the elections are near, a mechanism is followed whereby you can message on 8300 and find out where your vote is. However, instead of telling people their constituencies for these votes, the message they are receiving contains information regarding the general elections. “This is simply rigging. You are misleading the voter by giving them the wrong information,” he said, adding that the PTI has, therefore, decided to file an application in ECP demanding that the same voting list on which elections are to be held should be sent to the people.
