Daily Times

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid and Minister for Water Resources and PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi Saturday came face-to-face over the issue of no-confidence vote.

“I am not like those who have only five seats [in National Assembly] and are blackmailing the government to get the post of Punjab chief minister,” Sh Rashid said while speaking to media in Quetta, as he took a veiled jibe at the PML-Q leadership.

He was apparently referring to reports that PML-Q, a key ally of PTI both at Centre and Punjab, was demanding the government to replace Punjab CM Usman Buzdar with senior party leader and provincial assembly speaker Pervaiz Elahi in return for the support in foiling opposition’s no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

Sh Rashid said that in the face of the no-confidence motion, he would be standing firm “like a wall” to defend the prime minister. “I am not responsible for others.” He added that the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) was “fully” behind PM Imran Khan, as he warned the Opposition that if the law and order situation moves towards deterioration, the army could be called in for restoring peace.

Responding to a question about PM Imran’s hard-hitting speeches against opposition leaders, Sh Rashid said he believed that the political temperature of the country should be brought down. “Their [opposition] no-confidence motion will be defeated so it is better that we cool them down now and prepare them mentally that they are going to lose,” he added.

The minister lashed out at the opposition parties and accused them of deceiving the masses under what he called the cover of vote of no-confidence. “They are selling their conscience not votes,” he said. “I will stand by Prime Minister Imran Khan and he will complete five years,” he said.

He said over 300 people stormed the parliament lodges, which put the security of the house at risk. When asked about the arrest of two members of the national assembly, he said that the two members deliberately handed themselves over to police to gain publicity. “We provided them good food and sent them back,” he said. He said no militia would be allowed to take the law into their hands. The government has the constitutional authority to convene the military under article 245 of the Constitution but currently, there was no need, he said.

PML-Q leader Chaudhry MoonisElahi hit back at Sh Rasheed, alleging that he “used to take money from the party’s elders during his student life”. “I respect Sheikh Rashid but he is forgetting that he used to take money from the elders of his party during his student life,” he maintained.

In response to the interior minister’s comments, BAP President Jam Kamal Khan said: “BalochistanAwami Party takes its own decision, not Sheikh Rashid.”

Later, Sheikh Rasheed curtailed his Quetta visit and left for Islamabad shortly after his “five votes” remarks earned him strong rebuke from PML-Q.

Rasheed and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri were on a two-day visit to Quetta. They were scheduled to return at 10:25am on Sunday but amid evovling political situation, they curtailed their visit and left for Islamabad Saturday evening.