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Saturday, July 13, 2013
APC not postponed due to Imran: PTIISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday voiced concern over the blaming of party chairman Imran Khan for the postponement of the All-Parties Conference (APC) and criticised both the ruling PML-N and opposition PPP for holding him responsible for the delay.
“It is the government that is still in the process of drafting a presentation on National Security Policy for the APC. Hence it is still not ready to hold the meeting,” PTI Information Secretary Dr Shirin Mazari stated. She said the PTI is fully prepared to put forward concrete proposals and added that Imran’s urgently needed medical trip to the UK was no impediment in the PTI participating and putting forward its proposals in an APC.
As for opposition leader Khurshid Shah’s demand that the APC should not be postponed because of Imran Khan, Dr Mazari pointed out that he should know that the real reason for the postponement is government’s unpreparedness. Mazari said the PTI had watched extensive government and media targeting of Imran Khan, based on lies and misrepresentation of facts. Mazari said that the PTI chairman had waited for two months for the government to act on his request for a meaningful meeting on counterterrorism beyond the usual APC rhetoric. As a result he had to postpone his urgently needed medical trip to the UK. Te government informed the PTI leaders of the meeting just a few days before the date, and during this time Imran was not contacted directly. The first attempt at direct contact was on the night of the PTI chief’s departure but it proved unsuccessful. Imran’s physical condition made it impossible for him to postpone his medical consultation for rehabilitation in view of the life-threatening injuries he had suffered. “Those making a mockery of his injuries and the urgency for medical consultation are not only medically ignorant but deliberately malicious,” she added.
She clarified that at no time did Imran ever state he would postpone his UK trip as that was not an option at this time. “Rumours about this were simply rumours but their persistence raises questions about intent of the rumourmongers,” she sad. Mazari said that Imran had nominated PTI representatives for the APC and a fully prepared set of suggestions and demands had been prepared. staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk