Not martial law but...: Minister rings alarm bell on ‘constitutional meltdown’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) senior leader and Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif predicted on Thursday a “constitutional meltdown” in the country.

Speaking in Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, he said: “I don’t have any information [but] this is just my gut feeling that constitutional breakdown is about to happen… sooner or later, [but] it is going to happen,” he said without elaborating further.

However, he clarified that he was not talking about the possibility of a martial law being imposed in the country. “There should be a political solution to political problems,” he added.

Amid facing opposition from friends and foes alike, the defence minister admitted that the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN)-led government announced the move to ban the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in haste. “Yes, you can say that we declared this prematurely and consultation with the allies [in this regard] is mandatory,” he added.

Khawaja Asif said any decision regarding imposing a ban on the PTI would be taken in line with the consensus among the allies. “We will take this major step after creating broad consensus InshaAllah,” he added.

When asked about the perception that the incumbent rulers are playing the role of facilitator in the institutions’ alleged fight against jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, the defence minister rejected the perception saying: “This is about Pakistan”.

“Since their [PTI] ouster from power and the attitude they adopted, the PTI has become an existential threat to the country,” the senior PMLN leader said, adding that the embattled party was receiving all-out support from the US “either diplomatic or legislative”.

He also claimed that the PTI hired lobbyists in the US “who have garnered [them] support of different lobbies”.

Separately, speaking in another news channel programme, the defence minister warned “we would go to every extent to save the government”. He said the PMLN government would go to any extent to salvage the current setup. He said there are whispers, “let October come, and then they will also file an application regarding elections. There are whispers in certain circles for cancelling the elections on a petition. But we will go to any extent to save the government,” he pledged.

The defence minister said there seemed no chances of release of the PTI founder in near future. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered talks to the party at several times, but there was no response from them. He regretted that the PTI raised unnecessary hue and cry on PM’s talks offer. He ruled out any negotiations, saying there was a situation of deadlock in the country. However, he expressed his optimism that there would be clarity on all the issues in the next 10 days. He said there was a situation of uncertainty in the country, but it was not such a situation that could result in wrapping up of the system.

The minister said that beside politicians, judiciary was also responsible for the current uncertainty in the country. The decisions were being given beyond comprehension. In Nawaz Sharif’s matter, cases started from Panama leaks, and ended at Aqama. And in the current cases, total benefit was given to the PTI, which was not even party to the case. The Sunni Ittehad Council had filed a petition, but verdict was announced in favour of the PTI.

He said the PPP was standing with the PMLN, but there might be different viewpoint in seeing any situation. Khawaja Asif said the PTI should have been banned soon after the May 9 incidents. Whenever Imran Khan’s case was discussed, he attacked the country. He said their “anti-national activities” had been going on for the past 18 months.

Responding to criticism from political parties about the newly launched ‘Azm-e-Istehkam’, Khawaja Asif said they could not afford to wait for all political factions’ consent while the army men continue to be martyred.

In reply to a question, he said it was a misconception that PMLN President Mian Nawaz Sharif was sitting idle and he was doing nothing. He said he was very much active in party and he was performing his role for the country. He said the party strategy as well as all major decisions were being approved by Nawaz Sharif.

He admitted that the PTI and its founder Imran Khan were most popular among people at the moment. He said there were striking similarities between US presidential candidate Donald Trump and former Pakistani premier Imran Khan, adding that they seem like twins because both were attacked and both had to go to jail in legal cases.

The defence minister said that Fitch was a credit rating agency, which also looked at political situation of any country while giving the rating.