ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Sunday warned the opposition against disrupting a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad next week, calling it "a matter of national security."
Ahmed's statement came a day after the joint opposition in the parliament threatened to disrupt the OIC meeting if the National Assembly speaker delayed summoning the session for proceedings on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The opposition has been seeking to topple the government through a no-trust vote, claiming the prime minister has lost the majority in the house.
On Sunday, Ahmed dared the opposition to try to stop the OIC meeting, reminding, “This is a matter of national security.”
“Can anybody even think of such an irresponsible statement from any politician that they would not allow the OIC meeting,” he asked at a press conference in Islamabad.
“If anything untoward happens [during the OIC meeting], I’ll register cases against [opposition] leaders.”
The OIC summit is scheduled to take place in Islamabad on March 22-23. Apart from addressing core issues on the agenda, particularly Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir, the discussions would focus on key priorities such as countering Islamophobia, recovery from Covid-19 pandemic and diverse matters of peace and security, economic development, cultural and scientific cooperation and revitalizing the role of OIC.
On Saturday, the opposition threatened to disrupt the meeting.
“If the speaker of the National Assembly does not present the no-confidence motion on Monday, then I would recommend to my party, to opposition parties that we will not get up from the hall," Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) told reporters.
“We will then see how your OIC conference takes place.”
But hours later, the opposition released a joint statement, welcoming the OIC delegations and promised a conducive environment for the meeting.
“Pakistan's internal political situation and ongoing turmoil will not be allowed to affect the OIC conference,” the statement said. "We hope the stay of the esteemed guests in Islamabad will be pleasant and they return with good memories."
Ahmed said the opposition backtracked from its stance of a sit-in in parliament after receiving a phone call from some “responsible” person. He, however, didn’t mention the person who made the phone call.
“Now you are saying you want to see it [OIC meeting] successful,” he mocked.
Ahmed said he had assured ambassadors of all the participating countries that nobody would dare disrupt the proceedings.
Around 15,000 security personnel would be deployed in Islamabad for the security of OIC delegates, he added.
