- Minister stresses need to rectify flaws in governance.
- Raises questions divide within PTI for attending meeting.
- Imran never attended parliamentary security meeting as PM: Bilawal.
The ruling coalition on Tuesday castigated the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for skipping the in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, summoned amid rising terrorism across the country.
“There is a need to rectify flaws in governance, and if PTI sets conditions on this matter, it cannot be called patriotism,” Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’.
The in-camera meeting was held as Pakistan struggles with a new wave of terrorism, with security forces and law enforcement agencies facing increasingly frequent attacks.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) Lieutenant General Asim Malik, chief ministers of all four provinces, and other top officials.
The major opposition alliance, Tehreek Tahaffuz-i-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP), chose not to attend the meeting, citing the absence of PTI founder Imran Khan, who is incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.
Responding to a query by Khanzada, the defence minister questioned the divide within the former ruling party, noting that a significant faction of PTI wanted to attend the crucial meeting.
“[KP Chief Minister] Ali Amin Gandapur attended the meeting … he did not show any deception and even endorsed the deliberations held during the meeting,” he added.
Asif noted that the meeting focused on reviving the National Action Plan and its effectiveness, which had diminished over the past four to five years.
He underscored the military’s role in ensuring both internal and external security, stating that former should primarily be the responsibility of the police.
The minister recalled that during the PTI’s tenure, the then-government had briefed lawmakers on a plan to settle 4,000 to 5,000 people in the country.
“No politician demands release or requests to be brought out on parole,” he said, adding that despite the party founder’s legal troubles, PTI remains active in the political arena.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said that Imran had never attended any parliamentary security meeting during his tenure as prime minister.
“Not on terrorism, not on Kashmir nor Indian aggression. Today he is not a member of parliament and this was a meeting national security committee of parliament [and] pathetic PTI would insist he attends now,” he wrote on X.
Bilawal noted that it was every Pakistani’s duty to put country above politics at times of war.
‘Imran endorses skipping meeting’
Separately, Imran’s lawyer, Faisal Chaudhry said that he had a detailed meeting with the party founder in Adiala jail.
According to Chaudhry, the PTI founder termed the boycott of the National Security Committee meeting as the right decision.
“He questioned what kind of consensus the government hopes to achieve by sidelining the country’s largest political party,” Chaudhry quoted him as saying.
Imran said, “Keep me in jail for a lifetime if you must, but I will never bow down to oppression and fascism.” He further emphasised that only political parties have the ability to unite the country.
