Several leaders of the Opposition parties were barred on Thursday from entering a hotel in Islamabad where they were due to hold further talks as part of the two-day conference regarding prevailing political situation, supremacy of the constitution and rule of law.  Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, PTI’s Omar Ayub, Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Hamid Raza were stopped from entering the hotel after the authorities deployed paramilitary troops around the conference venue. 

The federal capital’s administration has deployed Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel outside the hotel as it hosts the Opposition Grand Alliance conference for the second consecutive day.  The two-day Grand Alliance conference was being held in Islamabad to discuss prevailing political situation, supremacy of the constitution and rule of law.  The Grand Alliance leaders have not yet responded to the deployment of the FC personnel.  On the first day of the conference on Wednesday, Opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ain-i-Pakistan had blamed the government of pressuring the Legend Hotel’s administration to revoke permission for the second day of the conference. 

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad with other opposition leaders beside him yesterday, Awaam Pakistan Party President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the conference was aimed at discussions on the country’s issues and the rule of law and the Constitution.  He said there was nothing which was against the state or tantamount to incitement. He said Opposition members talked on the Constitution and the rule of law. “This is the country’s capital where a government is worried by the name of the Constitution and a conference.”

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)