Ata Tarar for inviting Imran Khan to APC

• SAPM says Jail Bharo Tehreek is a political gimmick.
• Says country lacks finances to hold elections in two provinces. 
• Suggests govt invite Imran to APC even if it involves visiting his house.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Interior and Legal Affairs Attaullah Tarar condemned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, saying his ''Jail Bharo Tehreek'' was nothing but another "political gimmick" that he believed would not last for long.

In order to win the date for general elections in Pakistan, Imran Khan announced the Jail Bharo campaign on February 4. Khan's announcement of the drive comes also in the wake of sedition cases filed against his party's Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry and former member of the National Assembly Shandana Gulzar, while Senator Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gill were booked earlier for speaking against the military. 

"Imran Khan had always promoted the politics of hate and chaos which leads the public to use expletives and abusive language against political opponents," he said, speaking on the Geo News programme 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath' on Tuesday.

The Imran-led government was the "most egregious example of political revenge," he said, adding, however, that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) did not believe in political victimisation.

"The government called the All Parties Conference (APC) to address the prevailing issues in the country. It has invited the political leadership to unilaterally work out a framework that would get Pakistan out of the current crisis," he noted.

The PTI chief should be invited to the APC even if the government has to visit his house over the issue of national integrity and defence, he stressed, adding, "Because national integrity and defence are of paramount importance."

Tarar also called into question Khan's demand for holding elections within 90 days of dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. He said that Imran's demand is not unconstitutional. He [Imran] has come up with this demand as he wants to create political chaos and crisis in the country from day one, he maintained.

The SAPM signalled the government's unwillingness to hold general elections in two provinces as the country lacked finances.

Expressing his grief over the massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the PML-N leader said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was likely to visit the country to offer them condolences for the loss of lives in the quake and express the support of Pakistan in this difficult time.