‘United’ opposition to unleash all options in stages to oust govt: Zardari

KARACHI/MULTAN: Rebuffing the government’s claims of differences within the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Asif Ali Zardari asserted on Sunday that the opposition alliance was united and it would gradually unleash all options to topple Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman’s statement came after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the “unnatural” opposition alliance had “collapsed” as it lacked unity. “The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam has also been divided into groups,” he added.

In a telephonic conversation with PPP Punjab’s General Secretary Chaudhry Manzoor, Zardari said a united opposition would strike the government from all fronts, Geo News reported. He said it was imperative to send the “incompetent” government packing to avert any upheaval the country could face due to any major blunder by the incumbent rulers in these critical times. The former president said the next few months are very important for the future of country’s politics. He added now the opposition would not let the rulers hide behind coronavirus. The government neither helped the public nor they succeeded in purchasing vaccines, he maintained.

Zardari criticised the government over the handling of economy, saying the “inept” rulers had turned all the indicators in negative. The PPP co-chairman said he had already predicted the “selected” government would fall under its own weight, and that is what happened, now it needed only last push. He said the PPP along with the PDM would send the “failed” rulers home.

Earlier in the day, Qureshi said the PTI government would defeat a no-confidence motion if it was moved by the opposition — an approach proposed by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as a constitutional method of removing the Premier as opposed to rallies.

Speaking to the media in Multan, Qureshi said Bilawal’s recommendation was proof the PPP chairman acknowledged the democratically-elected government. He said now, Bilawal should shun the term “selected” and call Khan an “elected” Prime Minister.

Bilawal was the first person to use “selected” to refer to the Prime Minister, a term that has since been co-opted by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to describe Khan.

The foreign minister’s comments come days after the PPP chairman said he would recommend the PDM to “strike” in Parliament and opt for democratic and constitutional methods of ousting the Premier.

“A no confidence motion is part of the Constitution,” Qureshi said, adding Bilawal “admits” the government was democratically elected.

Responding to a question about the appointment of Justice (retd) Sheikh Azmat Saeed as chairman of the Broadsheet investigation committee, Qureshi remarked the opposition “would not agree on any name”.

He added that if the opposition had “clean hands”, it had no cause to worry. “The PTI government has no relation to Broadsheet agreement or its suspension,” he said. He, however, added that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted an inquiry “to make things clear”.

Regarding the submission of party asset details with election commission, Qureshi stated the PTI had handed over a list of 40,000 donors. “Now, the PPP and PML-N should also submit details of donors,” the minister added. “It was the first time in the country that Prime Minister Imran Khan introduced political fund raising,” he said.

To another question, observed that Kashmiris and minorities were not safe in India and that Pakistani diplomats would not participate in ceremonies of India’s Republic Day.Responding to a query regarding new United States administration and Afghan peace process, Qureshi remarked that Pakistan and the United States have the same policy on Afghanistan as the both countries want peace there.

Pakistan believes there is no military solution to the Afghan issue, he said. Pakistan, in its meetings with different United States delegations, always supported dialogue for the restoration of peace in Afghanistan. “Reduction in violence leads to ceasefire”, the foreign minister said.

He said that he wrote a letter to the new secretary of state, and apprised him of different developments on regional circumstances. Qureshi hoped that the relationship between Pakistan and new administration of USA would improve further.

Qureshi stated that now, Pakistan was shifting from geo-strategic to geo-economic position. Things have changed at the global level within the last four years, he said, adding, now, India could not present its “so-called secular face” because in the current circumstances it was heading towards Hindutva state.

Replying to a question on Turkey and Azerbaijan, the foreign minister observed that Pakistan and Turkey had supported Azerbaijan as per resolutions of United Nations. People of Azerbaijan paid rich tribute to Pakistan for this support, he said. Qureshi categorically stated that Pakistan had not made any agreement which could damage the interests of any brotherly country.