State Dept spox urges all political parties to respect rule of law
\n WASHINGTON
\nState Department spokesperson Vedant Patel clarified that former US ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad does not represent US policy, and asserted that the Afghan-born diplomat speaks in his \u201cpersonal capacity\u201d.
\nHe was responding to a question raised by a Pakistani journalist about the perception that recent tweets by Khalilzad about the political situation in Pakistan reflect the views of the US government.
\nThe journalist stated that there was a general sentiment in Pakistan that Khalilzad\u2019s statements expressed the US government\u2019s sentiments. The spokesperson quickly clarified that \u201cany social media activity or comments or tweets\u201d by the former diplomat were done in \u201chis private capacity\u201d as he did not speak for the administration.
\nThe Pakistani journalist then asked about Patel\u2019s opinion about the current political chaos in Pakistan as country\u2019s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah \u201cissued death threats to former prime minister Imran Khan on public TV\u201d.
\n\u201cWe have previously stated that any implication of violence, harassment, or intimidation has no place in politics,\u201d Patel said. He encouraged \u201call sides\u201d in Pakistan to \u201crespect the rule of law and allow the people of Pakistan to democratically determine their own country\u2019s leadership pursuant to their own constitution and laws\u201d.
\nThe US State Department Spokesperson maintained that it was not for him to speak or react to comments made by the interior minister. Earlier, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned the Pakistan coalition government regarding the potential consequences of ousting Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), from election campaigns.
\n\u201cMr Khalilzad is a private citizen, and any social media activity, comments, or tweets that you might reference, those are done in his private capacity, does not represent US foreign policy, and he does not speak for this administration,\u201d Patel told reporters at his daily news briefing, as he set the record straight.
\nAsked about the political crisis in Pakistan, in which death threats were being held, the spokesperson urged all sides to respect the rule of law and allow the people to democratically determine their country\u2019s leadership in accordance with the constitution and laws.
\n\u201cSo we have previously stated that any implication of violence, harassment, or intimidation has no place in politics, and as we do with our partners all around the world, we encourage all sides in Pakistan to respect the rule of law and allow the people of Pakistan to democratically determine their own country\u2019s leadership pursuant to their own constitution and laws,\u201d he added. \u2014 DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
State Dept spox urges all political parties to respect rule of law WASHINGTON State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel clarified that former US ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad does not represent US policy, and asserted that the Afghan-born diplomat speaks in his \u201cpersonal capacity\u201d. He was responding to a question raised by a Pakistani journalist about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-322429","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n