News
Sunday, August 27, 2006
ARD and MMA ‘political terrorists’, say ministersBy Irfan Ghauri
ISLAMABAD: The government on Saturday dismissed the opposition’s no-trust motion against the prime minister as “political terrorism” aimed at destabilising the country. “There are religious terrorists and political terrorists. They are the political terrorists and the government must take action against them,” said Sarwar Khan, minister for labour and manpower, in a joint press briefing with Muhammad Ali Durrani, minister for information, and Yar Muhammad Rind, minister for states and frontier regions. “The move is a cheap manoeuvre just to keep themselves alive in the media. If they had any sympathy with democracy they would not have taken such a step, knowing that their defeat is certain. Democracy in this country is like a crawling baby,” the ministers said. The ministers, who are part of the prime minister’s nine-member media team on the no-confidence motion, said the opposition parties had tried to destabilise the political system in the past, but their move would be foiled this time. They said the fact that an opposition alliance was in power in the NWFP and sharing power in Balochistan showed the government’s resolve to promote a culture of tolerance in politics. They said the no-confidence move had shaken businessmen’s confidence, which had resulted in a fall in the stock exchange and damaged the economy. Mr Durrani said, however, that this economic downturn would only last till August 29, the day the no-confidence motion would be put to a vote and defeated. He dismissed the opposition demand for secret balloting as “an attempt to initiate a bargain and raise their price”.
Courtesy DailyTimes.com.pk