PPP stalwart Khursheed Shah has said the joint opposition would shift their target towards the Punjab chief minister and speaker after removing the incumbent prime minister from his office, a private TV channel reported.
“After the no-confidence motion [is passed] against PM Imran Khan, we will shift our focus towards Chief Minister Punjab [Usman Buzdar] and speaker [Pervaiz Elahi],” the veteran politician said while speaking to journalists in Islamabad Saturday.
The former opposition leader in the National Assembly also told journalists that after CM Punjab, it would be President Arif Alvi’s turn – as they plan on impeaching him as well. “Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani is also trying to persuade his party [Balochistan Awami Party] members to support the opposition’s no-confidence move,” the PPP leader said.
Parallel to this, BAP President Jam Kamal Khan had told Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed that his party can make decisions for themselves. The interior minister had earlier in the day said the BAP – an ally of the PTI in Balochistan and Punjab – would stand by PM Imran Khan in face of the opposition’s no-confidence motion.
Meanwhile, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman hit out at Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday and accused him of pushing the country towards a crisis in his attempts to avoid the joint opposition’s no-confidence resolution against him. “His plan to avoid no-trust [motion] is pushing the country towards tension and constitutional crisis. In [his] confusion, [he is using] wrong language and making plans. “The days of this government, which has [an] artificial majority, are numbered,” the senator said.
She also took the PM to task for the language he used against the opposition in a scathing attack while addressing a gathering in Lower Dir on Friday. Rehman said the premier’s speech showed he was ready for a confrontation with everyone. She said the tone and language he was using was “shocking”.
The senator also criticised the prime minister for his comments on “neutrality”. “Humans either side with good or evil. Only animals remain neutral,” the PM had said during his address in Lower Dir.
His remarks had came a day after the military’s spokesperson categorically stated that the army had nothing to do with politics and called for avoiding unnecessary discussion and speculation about the army’s alleged involvement in political affairs.
However, PM Khan had appreciated the role of the army, saying that it was due to a strong and disciplined army that the country was safe and protected.
Rehman said the government would have been in an uproar if the opposition had interpreted the concept of neutrality in such a manner. “The government has been saying for three and a half years that institutions are neutral. The prime minister himself says he is not part of any bloc and is neutral. He claims to have introduced a neutral umpire in cricket. “Now he says only animals are neutral. The prime minister had earlier said that the no-confidence motion was a global conspiracy against him and now he says that his prayer has been answered,” she said.
The senator quipped that taking a “U-turn” from his stances had become a part of the premier’s global identity.
The prime minister’s tirade against the opposition on Friday wasn’t his first outburst against his political opponents since the no-trust motion was filed on Tuesday. He had thundered on Wednesday that he would “grab the thieves by their necks” and go after them once this “battle of nerves” is over – taking aim at PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari in particular.
The premier’s comments on the former president had prompted PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to respond in kind, saying “the threats hurled by Imran at Asif Ali Zardari are intolerable” and asked the premier to now “prepare for the consequences”.
