ISLAMABAD: Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif slammed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and said the words uttered at public meetings against the armed forces were extremely regrettable.
The National Assembly strongly condemned PTI Chairman Imran Khan for maligning state institutions while addressing a public meeting in Abbottabad the other day. The House unanimously resolved that no one would be allowed to malign state institutions for political gains.
Addressing the National Assembly, the defence minister declared Imran Khan a security risk for the country. He said there should be a national consensus to defend the state institutions so that no one could dare to malign them. “Abuse of national institutions will not be tolerated,” he added.
Terming Imran Khan in the present scenario “Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq”, the senior PML-N leader said all state institutions were working within their constitution limits.
Khawaja Asif said political parties in the National Assembly brought an in-house change through a constitutional way by passing a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan.
He said the Parliament was the mother of democracy and it was a constitutional obligation of the whole nation to defend the country’s institutions. Former ministers and close aides of the former prime minister committed massive corruption, he added.
Khawaja Asif said the past regime of PTI had ruined the national economy that caused unprecedented price hike of edible items, and now it was a collective responsibility of the coalition government to take required steps for providing instant relief to the common people and boosting economic activities.
Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf observed that any such attack on the state and security institutions launched with the purpose to weaken them was against the national interests.
“Whosoever utters such words, he/she negates the national interest. Our Constitution does allow anyone to launch such attacks on the armed forces or the judiciary.”
