PTI-led govt should have been allowed to complete tenure: Javed Latif

ISLAMABAD: More than two years after toppling former premier Imran Khan-led government via a no-trust vote, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) stalwart Javed Latif revealed that his party was not in favour of bringing a no-confidence motion, saying the former ruling party should have been allowed to complete its five-year tenure.

“This government was established under an ‘arrangement’ and all parties entered an alliance under the same ‘arrangement,’" the PML-N leader said while speaking on Geo News programme 'Naya Pakistan' on Sunday.

Pointing towards the rifts between the ruling PML-N and its key ally — the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the politico claimed that there was no reason left for the ruling coalition partners to step back from approving the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. He also touched on the behind-the-scenes developments that led to the ouster of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government in the country in April 2022.

“The environment was created under the arrangement and a no-trust motion was tabled,” he said without elaborating further.

He added that the PTI founder had held meetings with the then army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa after the no-confidence motion.

The PMLN senior leader also alleged: “I was defeated [in the 2024 general polls] by those who arranged everything and I’ve already presented the evidence.”

The former federal minister demanded that a commission should be constituted to probe into alleged irregularities in the February 8 nationwide elections besides launching an investigation into the 2018 general polls.

In a historic first for Pakistan, Imran Khan was ousted as the prime minister of Pakistan from office through a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly in April 2022. The PTI founder had alleged that his ouster was a result of a conspiracy hatched by the US by colluding with his political rivals — the claim denied by both the US and Khan's rivals.

Following Khan’s ouster, the parties under the flag of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) got a chance to transfer the rulership to the then-largest opposition party — PML-N — and elected Shehbaz Sharif as the new premier for the remaining 1.5 years of the rule.

The Nawaz-led party was reelected to power after forming a coalition with the PPP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) in the Centre after the 2024 polls.