Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz has said on Friday that “vote of no-confidence” was already done, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan has no right to remain in office.
Addressing the media and flanked by senior party leaders, Maryam congratulated President Dr Arif Alvi for finally recognising that the premier “had lost the confidence of the people”.
She read out Article 91(7) of the Constitution during the presser and said that the prime minister calling a vote of confidence means that the president has asked for one. She further claimed that the president too had accepted “what everyone saw in Daska, Nowshera” and other by-elections.
“Imran Khan is selected and will remain with the same status forever,” said Maryam, adding that just a single seat in Islamabad had exposed him.
Reiterating the opposition’s stance that the premier is “selected”, the PML-N leader said that the government will not be any good if PM Imran wins the confidence vote after “bullying and harassing his own members”.
She taunted the premier by asking how he could hope to achieve a vote of confidence from them when the PM himself had accused them of being “sellouts”.
PML-N, Maryam said, was not the party that would remain silent. For secret balloting, a constitutional amendment was required, which could only be done in the parliament, she added.
Furthermore, she pointed out that military leadership “should not have been seen” with the premier a day after the loss the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) suffered in the Senate elections.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had met Imran at Prime Minister House on Thursday, a day after the much-hyped Senate polls took place. Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed was also present during the meeting.
“Is he not dragging the institutions into politics?” she asked.
She pointed out that the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG had often told politicians not to pull the military into political affairs. Maryam maintained that the DG should have told the premier that “you have lost, been humiliated, failed, and lost the trust of the people […] so kindly do not drag us into this politics”.
Regarding the statement issued by the ECP earlier today, wherein they asked the PTI not to mud-sling and expressed disappointment with the stance the premier took during a televised address after the elections, the PML-N VP said that the whole country can now see “what a mafia is and how they pressurise and defame institutions”.
She said that the ECP stand on holding the polls through secret ballot was not its personal opinion but a constitutional stance which was “more or less accepted by the SC”. No institution except the parliament can amend the Constitution, she stressed.
“Now even the institutions know who is making them controversial, they know who is bullying them,” she said, adding that while the PML-N faced decisions even when they went against it, the government faulted the institutions when the results were not in its favour.
A day earlier, the PML-N VP had said that those who were trying to break Muslim League are breaking themselves. She had maintained that the slogan of ‘Vote Ko Izzat Do’ was being accepted by people across the country.
Addressing a meeting of the general council of the PML-N in Islamabad, she had responded to the allegations by government ministers that the Senate elections were rigged, wherein Maryam had asked whether the recent by-elections were also rigged or not.
She had said that money did not prevail in Senate elections but the PML-N s ticket prevailed.
Maryam had paid tribute to all parliamentarians who accepted Nawaz Sharif s narrative. She had said that our parliamentarians observed discipline and voted for Yousaf Raza Gillani.
She had said that Nawaz Sharif was expelled on false allegations adding that they thought that they could break PML-N by putting Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Asif and Ahsan Iqbal in jail.
PML-N leader, while criticizing the prime minister, had said that you have given nothing to you MANs except embarrassment. “Your MNAs are also looking at new avenues of politics. Now you have no future and no party.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar echoed the similar sentiment and thanked President Arif Alvi on Friday for supporting the opposition’s position that Prime Minister Imran no longer held the majority in the parliament.
In a statement, Khokhar said that constitutionally a president only calls for a vote of confidence when he believes the premier has lost the majority.
“It does not matter how much the prime minister tries to please his members, the winds of change have blown,” the senator added.
“The constitution does not prohibit a no-confidence motion for six months,” Khokhar said and added that while the opposition is within its rights to produce a no-confidence motion at any point after Saturday, he said that the timing of such a motion will be determined by the leadership of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
The PPP senator further stated that the ruling PTI government officials are ready to jump [PM] Imran Khan’s ship on the promise of a PDM ticket in the next elections.
In two years Khan couldn’t raise our GDP by a percent. He’s a cricketer who licks boots.
With the recent election loss of a minister, it has been demonstrated that the people of Pakistan do not support Imran Khan and have voted against him. The Pakistani people understand that Imran Khan was able to become Prime Minister with the aid of the army because the Pakistani army desired a puppet Prime Minister who would act in the army’s interests. For this, the army rigged the Prime Minister’s elections, allowing Imran Khan to take power. However, people are beginning to realise that such a share of military is detrimental to democracy. In several ways, the outcomes of these elections are also against the army. Therefore, not only Imran Khan but also Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa should resign.