Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday said his suggestion for imposing an emergency or Governor rule in Sindh was a personal opinion and he had sent the summary to the prime minister. But so far no decision had been taken on it.

He expressed this while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

With the government's decision to file a reference in the Supreme Court for interpretation of Article 63 (A), which relates to disqualification of lawmakers on grounds of defection, the interior minister requested the dissident lawmakers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to come back to the party and support Prime Minister Imran Khan against the no-confidence motion.

Govt to move SC for interpretation of Article 63 (A): Fawad

“I request them [the dissident MNAs of the PTI who were staying in the Sindh House Islamabad] as well as the government allies to support the prime minister against the no-trust move,” said Rashid.

He gave a guarantee to the PTI’s dissident lawmakers that no crackdown would happen against them and they would be safe. “They should not hide as we will not go towards the Sindh House in Islamabad. Why they are afraid?" he asked.

The interior minister claimed the government had information about five or six dissident MNAs of the ruling party residing in Sindh House Islamabad for days. “We are grateful to media that they showed that at least 12 lawmakers of the PTI were there [in the Sindh House in Islamabad].”

He specifically named a PTI government ally, the Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan and requested them to support the premier, saying he knew them since their university days of politics in 1980s and hoped that the party officials would listen to his request.

Without naming the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, the interior minister said he would not talk about other allies as earlier they got offended by his words.

Responding to a question on visiting the government allies to convince them for voting in support of the prime minister, Rashid said: “It is the PTI’s responsibility to convince the dissident lawmakers as well as the allies of the government. I will not go anywhere to convince them.”

Talking about the political rallies which had been scheduled for March 25 and March 27 by the opposition and the government respectively at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, Rashid said the decision for the routes would be determined after a mutual discussion by the parties with the federal government’s administration. “The Islamabad administration has been asked to meet the government and opposition officials to decide the route of the rallies so that no political confrontation takes place.”

For the security of the public gatherings, at least 2,000 Rangers and 1,000 FC personnel would be deputed at the federal capital, while the interior ministry had announced a four-day-holiday from March 21 to 24.