The opposition parties on Tuesday appeared confident about the success of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif said that the decision has been taken for the betterment of Pakistan. Addressing a press conference flanked by former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he said, “We have taken this decision for the people of Pakistan and not for ourselves.” “What has been done to the country’s economy […] there is no other example of such destruction in Pakistan’s history,” he said, adding that the rise in inflation was the biggest concern.
He also lamented foreign policy failures, regretting the fact that “friends” that had supported the country during tough times were angered. “What type of foreign policy is it to upset China,” he asked, pointing towards criticism and “baseless allegations” against Chinese funded development projects.
The PML-N said PM Imran had criticised the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor before his election to the office of the prime minister. He further censured PM Imran for lambasting European Union (EU) countries over asking Pakistan to vote against Russia during a recently held special session of the United Nations General Assembly. This, he lamented, had angered EU nations.
Zardari began his address on a lighter note by apologising for the delay in holding the press conference, which was originally supposed to start at 4:30pm. He attributed the delay to traffic and the PPP’s ongoing anti-government march. Congratulating journalist Hamid Mir for being allowed back on-air, he said that nobody had the right to silence anyone in a democracy.
“In my five years as president, journalists disagreed with me and made allegations [but] I endured it all. This is a democracy,” he said, in an apparent criticism of the government’s crackdown on electronic media.
He said that the opposition decided at one point that it was “now or never”. “This [destruction] is continuing and it will worsen to such an extent where no one will be able to rectify it.”
Zardari said that the opposition consulted each other and came to the conclusion that a single party could not take the country out of this “difficult situation”. “We will all have to work together.” The PPP co-chair also invited “distant friends” to help the opposition work together to rid the country and coming generations of this difficult situation.
Zardari also assured the media that the opposition had the numbers it needed, saying: “We will get more than 172 votes.”
Speaking on the occasion, the JUI-F chief – who is also the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – said that during the general elections of 2018, the PTI had “looted the mandate of the voters.” “We are not ashamed of our stance,” he said, adding that the long march against the government scheduled to begin on March 23 is a part of the process to raise awareness about the PTI government.
Fazl further added that the Opposition knows about the true face of Prime Minister Imran Khan. “We know about your true identity and the evils and filths of your mind,” he said. “The Opposition has united due to national interest and the no-confidence motion will succeed,” he said, adding that the parties stand with democracy and aim to strengthen Pakistan.
