Refrain from dragging state institutions into politics, Qureshi tells opposition

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday, while terming the all parties conference (APC) a ‘show of disappointment’, asked the opposition to "refrain from dragging state institutions into politics on the behest of Pakistan's enemies".

“Governments come and go, but the opposition is in fact playing to the tunes of those desiring ill of the country,” the foreign minister said here at a news conference, flanked by Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz, Planning Minister Asad Umer and Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry.

Qureshi criticized the opposition’s open targeting of state institutions, including the army, the judiciary and the National Accountability Court (NAB), which, he said, was contrary to the national interest.

The opposition attacked an institution that always remained vigilant for defending the country’s sovereignty and laid immense sacrifices of lives.

He said the main motive behind the APC was the opposition’s failed attempt to get the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) rolled back.

“For the opposition, the rollback of NAB is an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) of the time,” he said, referring to the deal made to accommodate the financially corrupt in the past.

“On being unsuccessful to pressurize Prime Minister Imran Khan for the NRO, the APC was called, which turned out to be a 'mix of contradictions',” he said, stressing that the government would not to succumb to any pressure in that regard.