LAHORE: President Dr Arif Alvi believes that the government will be “playing with fire” if it resorts to arresting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan as PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry. Speculations are on the rise after his arrest.
In an interaction with senior journalists on Thursday, the President, in response to a question about the current government’s arrest of Khan, said: “It will be like setting a fire [fostering anarchy in the country].”
Arresting a former prime minister or a senior politician would lead to “resistance”, signaling instability if the government tried to detain its opponents, the president said.
Former Federal Minister Fawad was arrested from his Lahore residence on Wednesday morning after he openly “threatened” Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members and their families in a media talk a day earlier.
He was then taken to Islamabad, where the capital’s police granted the PTI leader’s two-day remand in a sedition case. His arrest drew criticism from within the ranks of the federal government – which, however, has denied involvement.
Imran is not against table talk
The president also lamented the manner in which Fawad was presented in an Islamabad court and told the authorities to “be ashamed” as they covered his head with a white sheet and handcuffed him.
“Institutions should not need the police to maintain their dignity. If someone has a problem with me, I will improve my performance instead of asking the police to take action,” he said.
Despite continued protests by the PTI since Khan’s sacking in April last year, the president reiterated that the former prime minister was “not against” the round table talks.
He said that if the politicians do not want to sit and negotiate, what can I do? Imran Khan is not against talks, but there is no response from the government.
The President said that Khan is also ready to reconsider the early elections as he wants the government to start negotiations.
Elections in Punjab
As confusion surrounds the staging of elections in Pakistan’s biggest province, President Alvi said he spoke to Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman about issuing a date for the polls.
“The governor told me that had he signed on the summary to dissolve the elections, only then would he have issued a date for the elections,” the president mentioned.
President Alvi said the governor told him that he would not be partaking in “unconstitutional” moves. He added that the PTI chief also fears the polls might be put off.
The Punjab Assembly was dissolved on January 14 after the governor refused to sign the dissolution summary forwarded to him by then-chief minister Parvez Elahi.
