ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties have asserted that a “systematic and planned campaign” was behind circulation of rumours about imposition of some kind of an emergency in the country in favour of presidential form of government.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) suspect that the incumbent government was behind such a “campaign” to distract the people’s attention from real issues and its failure on every front.
Meanwhile, the members of the joint opposition has submitted a resolution to the National Assembly Secretariat expressing the resolve to uphold and strengthen the federal parliamentary system in the country as provided in the 1973 Constitution.
Taking to Twitter, PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal posted an image of the hand-written resolution signed by members belonging to almost all opposition parties with the caption “let’s see if it comes on the assembly’s agenda on Friday or not”.
قومی اسمبلی میں تمام اپوزیشن جماعتوں کے دستخطوں سے میں نے قرارداد جمع کروائی ہے دیکھیں جمعہ کے اجلاس میں ایجنڈا پر لگتی ہے یا نہیں؟ pic.twitter.com/fyvoQ9uqZl
— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) January 19, 2022
“When the government, imposed through rigged elections, has ruined the country, then whisperings of imposition of an Indira Gandhi-like emergency and change in the system through various formulas are being heard,” wrote Mr Iqbal on his Twitter handle.
Mr Iqbal was referring to the imposition of emergency in India by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975. This emergency is regarded as the darkest chapter in the history of democratic India as during this period the country saw a crackdown on civil liberties and stifling of dissenting voices.
This perception, however, was categorically refuted by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, who termed the speculation about emergency or presidential form of government a part of “fake news culture” prevailing in the country thanks to some YouTubers and V-loggers.
