ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday asked the government spokesperson to effectively counter the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)'s narrative, and reiterated that "they will never get an "NRO"' in the ongoing corruption cases against them.
A day after the PDM's Lahore rally at Minar-e-Pakistan, the prime minister called a meeting of the government and the party spokespersons to discuss the government's counter-strategy to deal with the opposition's protest drive which has given the deadline of January 31, 2021 to resign or else it will decide a "long-march" onto Islamabad on February 1, 2021, besides exercising the option of en masse resignations from the assemblies.
Party sources said that the prime minister gave a clear direction to the spokespersons to effectively counter the PDM's anti-government narrative in media through talk shows and press conferences. The prime minister reportedly told the meeting that "the opposition should fulfill their desire, if they want to resign from the assemblies".
Prime Minister Khan also vowed that "he would never be blackmailed through tactics such as the long-march towards Islamabad". The meeting also condemned the alleged controversial remarks by Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai during his speech at the PDM's Lahore rally.
In his response to the PDM's Sunday rally in Lahore, the prime minister through a series of tweets, termed the rally "pathetic", and alleged tactics to blackmail him for an "NRO".
"Pathetic. PDM spent so much money, time, effort & displayed utter callousness by endangering people's lives during COVID19 spike - showing the scant regard they have for citizens' safety & well-being. All this just to blackmail me into giving them an NRO to save their looted wealth," the prime minister stated in a tweet.
He further stated: "Let me once again reiterate: I will never give an NRO. Whatever future plans of further blackmail PDM may have, my message is categorical: There will never be an NRO from my government no matter what tactics the looters devise."
The party sources maintained that during the meeting which was attended by Minister for Information Shibli Faraz, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood, Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan, the prime minister lauded the "political maturity" of the people of Lahore by "rejecting the PDM's narrative".
He said that it took him years to bring out the people of Lahore for the public meeting, adding that the people of Lahore were much mature politically.
"Tell them in categorical terms that we will not give an "NRO" to them," Khan reportedly told the meeting, adding that the PDM reiterated "undemocratic" demands during the Lahore public rally.
The prime minister also reportedly criticised the alleged "dictatorial" policies of the two major opposition political parties - PPP's Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the PML-N Vice President, Maryam Nawaz, - saying that one of their leaders inherited the chairmanship, while the other was made a leader by her father, Nawaz Sharif.
The sources further maintained that the spokespersons briefed the prime minister on the PDM's Lahore rally, and the premier was told that the 11 opposition political parties "miserably failed" to fill up the venue of the jalsa. They said that the meeting also reviewed the prevailing political situation of the country amid PDM's anti-government movement.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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