News
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Political activities gain momentum as presidential poll nears* Ch Nisar visits Mansoora, seeks JI support
* PML-N leadership directs MPs abroad to come back
* PML-Q to abstain if opposition fails to field joint candidate
By Kashif Hussain
LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan held an important meeting with the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders during his first visit to the party’s headquarters, Mansoora, on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the interior minister discussed several key issues related to the country, like the all-parties conference (APC) on national security policy which is directly linked with the issue of Taliban as well as US drone policy in Pakistan, Pak-India friendship, law and order situation in Karachi, the presidential elections, and Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s issue.
According to the sources of Daily Times, the two sides discussed all the abovementioned matters in the meeting which continued for more than one and a half hour. The sources said they also discussed the APC, peace negotiations with the Taliban in the upcoming days, and US drone attacks inside the country. The issue of Pak-India friendship was also raised by the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in the meeting. Later, the interior minister and JI chief Munawwar Hassan jointly talked to media and answered several queries about their meeting’s agenda as well as the current issues. Talking to media, Chaudhry Nisar said that the APC would hopefully be held soon after Eidul Fitr next month and would discuss the national security policy.
About the Karachi situation‚ the interior minister said that his government would hold consultations with all the stakeholders, including the political parties, to bring improvement to it. He told the media that he called on the JI leadership to get its support for the presidential candidate of the PML-N government, Mamnoon Hussain, and had briefed it on the APC. Nisar also discussed the Karachi situation with the JI ameer. The minister further said the government had contacted the US for remitting the remaining sentence of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
Speaking on the occasion, JI Ameer Syed Munawwar Hassan told the media that the PML-N has requested his party to support its presidential candidate, however, they would decide about it after consulting with the other members of the party. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday asked PML-N parliamentarians who are abroad to return to Pakistan ahead of the presidential election on July 30. The PML-N parliamentarians have been asked to return to cast their vote in the presidential election. A delegation of PTI led by its Central Secretary General and MNA Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday met JI Karachi chief Muhammad Hussain Mahenti. It told Mahenti that the PTI has finalised Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed as its candidate for presidential election and asked the JI leadership to support him. The Pakistan Muslim League-Q has said if the opposition parties failed to reach consensus on a joint candidate for the president’s office, the PML-Q lawmakers will likely abstain from voting on July 30.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk