By PTI
ISLAMABAD: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday arrived here to attend the 48th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ conference and held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on issues of mutual interests.
Pakistan is hosting the 48th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the OIC here on March 22-23, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Foreign Minister Qureshi had invited Wang as a special guest to attend the two-day conference being held from March 22 to 23 here.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang visited the Foreign Office and held talks with Qureshi on various issues of mutual interests, officials said.
He will also meet President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan, they said.
After attending the conference, Wang is expected to attend the Pakistan Day parade, and witness a special performance of China-made modern fighter jets J-10C.
Meanwhile, several foreign ministers and delegations from the OIC countries, observers and representatives of the international organisations arrived here to attend the session.
Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha also arrived to attend the OIC moot.
Talking to reporters, Taha said that the UN General Assembly recently adopted a resolution to observe March 15 as a day against Islamophobia which was a big development.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Somalia, Niger, Gambia, Bangladesh, Uganda, Tunisia, Tajikistan, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’ Ivoire and Bosnia have reached Islamabad.
Delegations from Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia and Mozambique have also arrived.
President of the Islamic Development Bank Mohammad Sulaiman Al Jasser also arrived to attend the 48th session of the OIC moot.
Prime Minister Imran will deliver the keynote address at the Inaugural Session on March 22.
Foreign Minister Qureshi will chair the CFM.
Pakistan’s former premier Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz on Monday said that PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif will be the party’s candidate to replace Prime Minister Imran Khan if the no-trust motion is passed in Parliament, a media report said.
Maryam, who is the vice-president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said that the Opposition will “sit and decide” on the appointment of the next candidate for prime minister but her party would nominate Shehbaz, The Express Tribune reported.
Talking to reporters outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), she said that delaying the session of the National Assembly was tantamount to “disobeying the Constitution”.
“Imran Khan! Your game is over. The Prime Minister is aware that no one will come to his rescue now that he has lost the game,” she said, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had officially broken up.
“Imran Khan believes there to be an international conspiracy against him, but he conspires against himself. Had he fulfilled his duty, there would be no reason to mobilise one million people,” Maryam said.
Quoting Imran’s earlier statements that his main objective of joining politics was not to check the prices of potatoes and tomatoes, Maryam said that had he kept a tab on the prices of wheat, ghee, sugar and petrol, the Opposition would not have had to see this day.
Accusing the ruling party of rigging elections, the Opposition leader said that the PTI was “slipping away like sand”.
Maryam also accused the premier of buying votes, claiming that he has “fallen victim to the rewards process, his own arrogance and pride”.
Around 100 lawmakers from the PML-N and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) submitted the no-confidence motion before the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, alleging that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government led by Prime Minister Khan was responsible for the economic crisis and the spiralling inflation in the country.
On Sunday, the National Assembly Secretariat issued a notification, paving the way for holding the key session on Friday.
Khan, 69, is heading a coalition government and he can be removed if some of the partners decide to switch sides.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking clarification on a constitutional point over disqualification of dissident lawmakers who have threatened to vote against embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan during a no-trust motion.
Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan submitted the move, also called a presidential reference, about interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution in the wake of nearly two dozen lawmakers of the ruling party threatening to vote in favour of the opposition’s no-trust motion.
The article says that anyone voting against the directive of the party leader on key issues like no-trust move or money bill will be disqualified.
The law is silent on the duration of disqualification, but Prime Minister Khan has threatened life-time disqualification for the dissidents.
A two-judge bench, comprising Pakistan Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Munib Akhtar, heard the matter along with a plea filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) seeking intervention to keep peace ahead of the no-trust vote.
The bench decided to constitute a larger bench for hearing the two petitions over the disqualification of dissident lawmakers and intervention of the top court to ensure peaceful conduct of the no-trust vote.
After the preliminary hearing, the bench announced to form a larger five-member bench and adjourned the hearing till March 24.
The apex court, while adjourning the hearing, announced that any political party eager to become a respondent in the reference may file an application.
The petition highlights two interpretations of disqualification under Article 63-A, including simple de-seating the member with no further curbs, and lifetime disqualification along with the zero effects of the vitiated vote.
Khan’s party is trying to seek a ruling that an erring member’s vote should not be counted, so that vote of its dissident lawmakers in the favour of the no-trust move should not add to the total number of votes against the Prime Minister.
These votes are crucial as the opposition needs 172 votes to remove the Prime Minister along with his cabinet.
Around 100 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) submitted the no-confidence motion before the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, alleging that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government led by Prime Minister Khan was responsible for the economic crisis and the spiralling inflation in the country.
On Sunday, the National Assembly Secretariat issued a notification, paving the way for holding the key session on Friday.
Khan, 69, is heading a coalition government and he can be removed if some of the partners decide to switch sides.
In the 342-member National Assembly, the Opposition needs 172 votes to remove Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician.
The PTI has 155 members in the House and needs at least 172 lawmakers on its side to remain in the government.
The party has the support of 23 members belonging to at least six political parties.
Nearly two dozen dissident lawmakers of the ruling party recently came out in the open ahead of voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Khan, with the government accusing opposition parties of horse-trading.
On Saturday, the ruling party issued show-cause notices to its dissident lawmakers for alleged defection and sought an explanation from them by March 26 as to why they may not be declared defectors and disqualified as a member of the National Assembly.
