| Info Minister says a major action is being planned against ‘horse-trading’ in Sindh House | Govt orders strict monitoring of MNAs ahead of vote on no-trust | Qureshi, Khattak tasked to woo disgruntled lawmakers | Ruling PTI’s political committee directs civilian intelligence agencies to closely monitor MNAs & Sindh House
By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: As the PTI-led government make efforts to thwart Opposition’s no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that a “major action” is being planned against horse-trading in Sindh House.
The statement allegation was made by the information minister during a press conference in Islamabad.
“Sindh House, Islamabad, is currently the centre of horse-trading,” Fawad said while accusing the Op position of buying votes of MNAs. “The way markets are being set up is against the Constitution.”
He said that there were reports of huge sums of money being shifted to Sindh House, adding that PPP has deputed police outside it to accommodate people there.
When asked if the government plans to raid Sindh House, Fawad said he doesn’t know about a raid but there would be a strict action.
Responding to a question if the government was look ing for “12 men”, the minister said: “What [do you mean by] ‘looking for’, we know [these] 12 men.”
Meanwhile, In a bid to thwart the Opposition’s no-trust move, the PTI political committee meeting, headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, decided that Islamabad’s Sindh House will not be allowed to turn into a horse-trading hub, well-informed sources said.
Sindh House is in the news after a federal minister accused the PPP of using the building for its nefarious designs.
On March 14, Federal Minister Ali Zaidi had claimed that the PPP has deployed additional SSU commandos at the building “to protect the bags of looted wealth #ZardariMafia brought to try & bribe our MNAs!”
Following up on his statement, the PTI minister also wrote a letter to Secretary Establishment demanding an immediate inquiry on SSU Sindh DIG Maqsood Memon.
Sources privy to the matter said that the meeting decided to strictly monitor the lawmakers and Sindh House to ensure that no one falls prey to horse-trading.
Civilian intelligence agencies were directed to closely observe the location, mobile phone data and the movement of lawmakers, and report to the premier on a daily basis.
Khattak, Qureshi tasked to woo disgruntled lawmakers
Meanwhile, PM Imran Khan tasked Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak to woo disgruntled lawmakers of the ruling PTI, sources said.
The meeting also agreed to call the National Assembly session on March 21 and empowered the premier to take the final decision in this regard.
A legal team briefed the meeting on convening the NA session for voting on the no-trust motion against the premier.
Ahead of the voting on the no-trust motion, the meeting suggested the prime minister call in a parliamentary party meeting of the PTI to identify the defiant and “missing” lawmakers of the party.
