ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secretary general Omar Ayub said on Friday that he had made it clear to the US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome that the party would not accept any foreign interference inside Pakistan.
Speaking at a presser along with Shoaib Shaheen and PTI spokesman Raoof Hasan, Ayub, who also serves as the opposition leader in the National Assembly, said that the US is the largest trading partner of Pakistan. He said investment could only be possible if there is a rule of law in the country.
He stressed that no country would invest if there was no rule of law, adding that local products can be exported to the US market only when a business-friendly environment is created through restoration of rule of law.
“The necessity of a stable legal framework for fostering investment and maintaining peace and order within the country is the need of the hour or else no one will make any investment here,” he added.
When asked about the sacking of senior PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat, he said that the action was taken based on the directives of party founding chairman Imran Khan. He explained that Imran Khan had directed them to sack Marwat from both the political and core committees of the party due to violating party discipline. A show-cause notice will be issued to Marwat today, he added.
“When Raoof Hasan and I visited Imran Khan in jail on Thursday, he directed us to take note and immediately sack Marwat for violating party discipline and disobeying his instructions. He told us to remove Marwat from both the political committee and the core committee,” he added.
He further stated that the ruling elite imposed on the people of Pakistan through Forms 47s would not last long as the people rejected them in the February 8 general elections.
Despite being imposed on people through stolen mandate, he added, their days are numbered as indicated in the sentiments of the masses.
Ayub also came down hard on Punjab Police for ‘unleashing a reign of terror on political workers and citizens belonging to PTI’.
He criticised the lack of discipline in Punjab Police, citing the Bahawalnagar incident as an eye-opener.
Ayub questioned why Dr Arif Alvi, as former president of Pakistan cannot engage in politics when Asif Ali Zardari can become president of Pakistan without stepping down as president of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP).
He said that multiple ridiculous cases have been filed against him in multiple cities simultaneously, including stealing 1,000 motorcycles in Faisalabad, which shows the incompetence of Punjab Police.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024