CHARSADDA- Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan on Tuesday said the decision to change Islamabad sit-in into thanksgiving rally was the right move on part of PTI chairman Imran Khan.
The ANP chief said one party (PTI) was making an emotional move to lock Islamabad down, while the other (ruling PML-N) was trying to block roads.
“Better late than never,” he told a public meeting in Sur Dherai area of Charsadda
“We would have been on the PTI’s side had it protested for the rights of the province on the issues like CPEC instead of its hunger for power,” he said.
Asfandyar said it was sad that two political parties, the PML-N and PTI, were shutting cities for own interest and that they were trying to make it a case for fight between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Moreover, ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain declared PTI chairman Imran Khan’s decision to change the Nov 2 Islamabad lockdown into a thanksgiving rally a ‘timely face-saving move’.
“The Supreme Court saved both the federal government and the opposition from embarrassment as its decision came at a time when neither the government nor PTI chairman could back out. They should thank the court for coming up with a decision to make terms of references regarding Panama Leaks scandal,” he told Dawn in Peshawar.
Mian Iftikhar said Imran Khan was lucky that he found a face-saving opportunity in the SC’s decision about the inquiry commission on the Panama Papers case.
He said the PML-N government could not lock Islamabad down after the SC’s decision earlier and that Imran Khan was left with no option but to stop workers from locking down Islamabad so he did the right thing to convert his call for sit-in on Nov 2 into a thanksgiving rally.
“Imran Khan got a chance to save his face and he availed it instead of showing stubbornness,” he said.
