Speaking in the National Assembly, the Prime Minister stated: "neither army has sought a role of an arbitrator nor the government has requested them to do so. We don't know why and how it was published. If the statement was made by the people sitting outside [PTI or PAT sit-ins], then you must know how much truth it can have". The Prime Minister added that the army was still required to play its role even if there was no PM-CoAS meeting because the security of Islamabad's Red Zone was under the army after the invocation of Article 245. He said a statement was also released by the ISPR that security of buildings in Red Zone was the responsibility of armed forces and a message was conveyed that no one should move towards them.
-- Government, ISPR contribute to considerable controversy;
-- Prime Minister tries to distance himself from army;
-- PTI seeks to galvanise support to boost its protest prospects
The Prime Minister also endorsed the statement of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and informed the house about a telephone call to them through which they learnt that PTI and PAT leadership wanted to meet Army Chief. Nawaz added that he, without any hesitation, allowed that the army chief could meet Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri.
The Prime Minister further stated that he would not compromise on supremacy of Constitution even if he had to sacrifice 10 governments. He said he would not budge even an inch on the resolution adopted by the Parliament and asked that how anyone could expect any kind of a u-turn from him who had faced so many hardships and undergone imprisonment during a struggle for the restoration of democracy.
Earlier, the Interior Minister told the House in detail about the sit-ins and stated that the resignation of an elected prime minister was completely out of question. Nisar said that every political party, including the one protesting outside the Parliament, had expressed confidence in the general election 2013. He said that Pakistan is at crossroads as on one hand there was an elected parliament while on the other hand a few thousand people were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister and Ministers. Nisar said that protestors' agenda was undemocratic; not only was it against the country, it also militated Constitution.
He said these people were using children and women as human shield. The Minister added that the Model Town incident was being used as a weapon against the government. Nisar said the government had been trying to resolve the issue peacefully through a dialogue. He said the government was ready for a dialogue but would not accept any unconstitutional demands and warned that adventurism would put the army in a very difficult situation. He said negotiations could be held on anything except Prime Minister's resignation. Not only would the PM, the entire house would also have to go if massive rigging in 2013 election was established through a probe by the Supreme Court. "Army was involved on the desire of these two leaders [protesting outside the Parliament]," he added.