Tabling no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan and holding talks with the PTI-led government’s allies were discussed as the top opposition leadership again met in Lahore on Wednesday.
The meeting between Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari took place after a luncheon hosted by the PML-N president. PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani were also present on the occasion.
During the meeting, former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari reportedly told Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif that he was the candidate for prime minister’s slot, saying “it doesn’t matter to me what anybody says”.
Before Zardari’s arrival, Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDM) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other JUI-F leaders also met Shehbaz. During the meeting, the PML-N president took the JUI-F chief into confidence regarding his meeting with the PPP leaders earlier. Both leaders discussed various issues including the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Another matter that came under discussion during the meeting was the anti-government long march. PDM reportedly has decided to join hands with the PPP to support the party’s long march towards Islamabad against the PTI-led government. PDM – the alliance of eight opposition parties – of which PML-N and JUI-F are the major ones, have decided to welcome the convoys of the long march. PML-N will welcome the convoys in Punjab while the JUI-F will do so in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sources added.
It has been decided that the workers of component parties of the PDM will welcome the participants of the long march in each city across the country. The opposition leaders will deliver their speeches while standing on top of containers, sources said, adding that no stage will be set up in any city during the march.
Upon arrival in Islamabad, there will be a mass public meeting during which the date for the no-trust motion is likely to be announced. Neither the long march will enter the Red Zone nor the PPP will stage a sit-in in Islamabad, reports said.
Separately, PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday stressed that the timing of the no-confidence motion against the government would be jointly decided by the opposition and the PDM. She said that the opposition was hopeful of emerging victorious in the parliamentary battle to oust the government “because our goal is based on honesty and to rid the people of inflation caused by the incompetent government”.
The PML-N leader rejected the information minister’s claims that three PTI lawmakers had been offered bribes to switch their loyalties. “No one needs to bribe legislators, especially at a time when the PTI has already lost the trust of its party members,” she said while speaking to the media in Lahore. Aurangzeb also said there was no discord between opposition leaders over a “power-sharing deal”.
When asked about PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s absence from recent political meetings, the party spokesperson replied that she had been active in key meetings and that no decision was taken without the consent of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter.
During the press talk, Aurangzeb also said that the PML-N had decided to challenge the recently promulgated Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act Ordinance 2022. Terming the ordinance a “draconian black law”, Aurangzeb said the law should first be applied to Prime Minister Imran Khan for his “false statements accusing opposition leaders of corruption”.
She claimed that through the ordinance, the premier was attempting to “silence” the government’s critics. She added that the prime minister should also be asked about the abuses he hurled at his political rivals in some of his recent speeches.
