Govt will have to go: opposition

TANK/LAHORE: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman Monday said the government was bound to go and those supporting it would be deemed culprits.

Addressing a gathering of the JUI-F workers here, he said the incumbent government had no right to stay in office, as it was "illegitimate" and "incompetent". "This illegitimate government is a product of fraud," he said, adding that the country belonged to everyone and that it wasn’t anyone’s personal property.

"I am bound by oath I have taken [...] In this situation, we have to do politics of principles. All the opposition parties are on the same page that the 2018 general elections were rigged," Fazl said.

“Today, this illegitimate government is on a campaign to defame me. It has attempted to discredit me by serving a NAB questionnaire. This is an attack on Jamiat,” Fazl said, adding that if he were to appear before the National Accountability Bureau, his entire party would accompany him. "We don’t accept pressure; we exert it," Fazl warned.

Fazl said the government was weakening institutions and that it was equal to pulling out a tree from its roots. He said the overall annual growth had fallen below zero and predicted that it would fall further in the next two years.

"The State Bank says the country's growth has never fallen to such an extent. Pakistan is facing internal and external problems," Fazl said, adding that the state would be strong when its economic conditions would improve.

Fazl disclosed that former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had written two letters out of which one was addressed to him and the other to PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif. Talking about the contents of the letter, the JUI-F chief said Nawaz regretted the PML-N's decision of having its parliamentarians take oath after the elections.

Meanwhile, PML-N Secretary Information Marriyum Aurangzeb Monday said the imposed PTI regime was in a state of paranoia because of their insecurity and fear of PDM and its leaders. In a statement, she stressed that the PDM would not negotiate with those, who robbed public mandate, public sugar, flour, electricity, gas and medicines.

Marriyum said the defeated rented mouthpieces had once again stooped even lower than their previously set records of foul language, indecency, misconduct and crass talk to set new world records.

She termed the federal ministers' press conference the last shrieks of a petrified and dying corrupt government that had lost at all fronts. She said the government spokespersons had gathered to push for an NRO for the corrupt PTI.

She said those who ranted against and cussed at the Parliament from the container were begging the Parliament for an NRO to bury their terrible crimes against the country and its people. But, she said, no matter what the incompetent, unqualified, indecent and inept PTI hoard does, they won't be given an NRO.

“These uncultured hooligans had been trained to be this way by their ringleader Imran Khan,” she said. She said God Almighty had shown the ego maniacs their true worth. “Those who looted people's Rs400 billion in sugar, Rs200 billion in flour, Rs122 billion in LNG and over Rs500 billion in medicine are pleading for an NRO.”

She rejected all possibilities of any negotiated settlement and told the government not to bother sharing any proposals in this regard.

“These proposals are actually a formal request for an NRO for Imran Khan,” she said. Marriyum said the PTI used to beg for an NRO behind closed doors, but now they had started doing it publicly in press conferences.