Legal team to brief cabinet, says Firdous

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information & Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that Pakistan will be on the forefront for the unity and harmony among the Muslim countries.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's core committee, and appraised it of postponement of Pakistan's participation in a conference of Muslim countries being taking place in Malaysia.

Awan said Pakistan wants to play a vital role for the unity, harmony and cooperation among the Muslim countries. She said Pakistan's relations with Muslim Ummah are beyond any doubt and its ties with Turkey and Malaysia are very strong. She said Saudi Arabia has always come forward in helping Pakistan generously to cope with economic challenges.

Awan said Barrister Ali Zafar and Dr Babar Awan briefed the party about recent decision of the Special Court regarding former President Pervez Musharraf. She said it has been decided that a legal team of the party would brief the cabinet before taking a formal stance over the matter after taking in-depth view of the court's judgment.

She said the core committee gave a task to the parliamentary committee to resolve the issue of appointment of chief election commissioner and members of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in consultation with Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser. He said PTI is committed for strong and independent institutions.

She said it has also been decided to re-organize the party before local bodies' elections. Regarding, controversial and discriminatory Citizenship Act imposed by the Indian government to target Muslims, Dr Awan said the core committee condemned this move.

She said the Prime Minister exposed the ugly face of India during his recent visit to Switzerland. She said Imran Khan, during his speech at the refugee conference in Geneva, showed the real face of India, committing atrocities on innocent Kashmiris. She said the core committee commended efforts of the Prime Minister for highlighting Kashmir issue and gross human rights violations in the valley at the hands of Indian occupation forces.

She said that request of the PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz to go abroad will be treated as per law. Monitoring Desk adds: Awan also briefed the media on other discussions held during the meeting, including those on the subject of the verdict issued by the special court a day earlier against former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf.

"The prime minister told the core committee that the institutions of Pakistan are the pillars of the state and the state's interest will always be supreme at any cost," she said. "We have to bolster our support to the state's institutions and make them independent and stand by the rule of law.

"So the legal team will inform the committee, the cabinet and the party after reviewing these priorities and we will then present the government's stance on this."