Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif will hold a one-on-one meeting with the head of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman ahead of the opposition alliance’s huddle in Lahore.
According to sources, the meeting between two bigwigs of the opposition would be held at Shehbaz’s residence in Lahore. The leaders would discuss the no-trust motion and the long march against the government.
Shehbaz would take Rehman into confidence regarding his most significant meeting with former president Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto. They would also discuss the contacts between the allies of the government and the opposition parties; especially the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
It has also been learnt that PML-N supermo Nawaz Sharif would join the meeting through Zoom from London and some important decisions would be made.
In the meanwhile, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah called on Shehbaz at his residence in Model Town on Thursday. The saga of the no-trust motion against the government has entered into the number game as Sanaullah briefed the PML-N president over numbers in both the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly.
Shehbaz has himself geared up to meet the numbers required for the no-trust motion and therefore he has started contacting the allies of the government as per the decision of PML-N’s central executive committee (CEC).
On Thursday, Sanaullah briefed Shehbaz over the disgruntled members of national assembly (MNAs) of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) from Faisalabad, Sargodha and Rawalpindi division while also sharing a list of MNAs from South Punjab. Shehbaz also talked to the head of Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith Senator Sajid Mir who assured him of his support in the no-trust motion against the government.
It would be worth mentioning here that PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has also said that the situation for a no-trust motion was now favorable as MNAs were ready to oust the government. He was talking to media in Islamabad on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Sanaullah said that there was huge pressure on PML-N from the public to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan from the government.
“There are large number of PTI ticket holders who want to join us and we are really thinking how can we adjust them because they are in huge numbers,” said Sanaullah, while talking to the media in Lahore at the PML-N secretariat on Thursday.
He was of the view that the public’s pressure was also on the lawmakers from the treasury benches who would support the no-confidence motion to save the country from further destruction.
“We don’t want to fight with anyone. Our only demand is free and transparent elections in the country,” Sanaullah said.
Talking about the scenario post no-confidence, he said that Nawaz would decide after the ouster of this government. We want immediate elections after the no-confidence motion, he added.
In the meanwhile, leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz would be going to visit South Punjab tomorrow to build pressure on the government. He would address the farmers’ convention in Multan and has also planned to meet influential politicians from the South.
Talking to journalists in Lahore yesterday, Hamza said that it would be decided by the PDM whether the no-confidence motion would be introduced in federal or Punjab in the first stage.
