Pakistan Peoples Party leader Abdul Qadir Baloch said that Imran Khan’s statement on refugees was surprising as there was no country that accepts illegal immigrants.

Speaking to Shaukat Piracha in Rubaroo on Friday, Abdul Qadir Baloch said it was Imran Khan’s privilege if he thought that undocumented immigrants were not a problem in Pakistan. He added that such immigrants, to whom no law applies, are not acceptted in any part of the world.

Baloch said that he did not understand why Imran Khan had made the statement on refugees and asked how long would a politics of compromise continue.

He said that Pakistan had made a major mistake in Doha by not imposing any conditions despite facilitating talks as the US planned to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Baloch added that the US had left quietly, leaving behind some weapons that could be used by the Taliban. He added that there had been no conversation on what kind of relations Pakistan would have with the new regime.

Mushtaq Minhas said that a majority of the country’s citizens had simply not understood why illegal refugees were being expelled from the country.

He said that there were hundreds of thousands of refugees living in the country who had registered themselves and no action had been taken against them.

Minhas said that he did not think that every single one of the refugees being sent back was a criminal but action had to be taken as they were not registered.

He added that Khan had made a statement about the issue as the Pakhtoons are one of his core constituencies and he was simply undertaking politics.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Amin ul Haque said that his party believed that no illegal refugees should be allowed to stay in the country whetehr Afghan or anyone else.

He added that PTI’s senior leadership should condemn the statement as it was against democratic norms and the constitution.

However, he added that care should be taken that no action is taken against those who were registered.

Haque said that while he wished that all parties should try to conduct their political struggle as per the law. However, he added that he did not see PTI anywhere in the urban parts of Sindh.

He added that in 2018, PTI had been given Karachi’s seats after the RTS collapsed and results had not been made official til two days after the election.

Haque said that MQM had already began its campaigns and was reaching voters at the grasroots level. He said that workers were being trained to make sure something like 2018 did not happen again.

Baloch said it was a good development that PTI was hoping to field candidates in every constituency. He added that people not involved in criminal activities should be allowed to contest elections without restrictions.

However, he added that there should be no exception made for people facing disqualification, especially those involved in May 9.

The PPP leader said there was no sign of PTI anywhere in Balochistan.

Minhas said that challenges to delimitations were standard practice and if anyone saw any issue it was right to challenge it in the ECP.

He added that the procedure to challenge delimitations was well-defined and it would not cause delay in elections.

Minhas added that vaccums do not stay for long in politics. He added that people from 1985 elections were still relevant so it would not be sie to count PTI out completely.