Face no-trust instead of attacking parliament, judiciary: Shehbaz Sharif

ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif Friday advised Prime Minister Imran Khan to contest the no-confidence resolution against him constitutionally, instead of unleashing attacks on parliament, Constitution and judiciary.

In a strong reaction to Prime Minister Imran Khan's possibly last address to the nation, Shehbaz said that Imran Niazi, who is in shock on losing power, is now attacking the parliament, Constitution and judiciary. “A man who wants to continue sticking to power, can be selfish and not a person with some self-respect,” Shehbaz said.

He said that Imran Niazi, by giving a protest call to his workers, announced success of the no-confidence resolution against him in advance. He challenged Imran Khan to make public the so-called threatening letter from a foreign state instead of making fake claims. “Imran has been proven a liar on the issue of the letter and now he should not consider people as animals to serve his interests,” Shehbaz said.

Shehbaz Sharif reminded Imran Khan that the Supreme Court had declared the ruling of NA deputy speaker as unconstitutional after going through all the evidence. He said Imran Niazi came to power on the basis of RTS [Results Transmission System], otherwise, he was rejected by the masses. “Now he has lost his senses after suffering defeats in parliament, court, government and politics.”

He told Imran Khan that his allies and masses were no more ready to bear burden of his failures, incompetency and corruption. “We will respond to fake claims of Imran Khan in the Parliament tomorrow,” Shehbaz Sharif said adding that the Constitution of Pakistan, parliament and people could not be made hostage to stubborn attitude, ego and arrogance of an individual.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, meanwhile, said that if the government tried to stop the vote of no-confidence, it will be a violation of the Constitution. "Tomorrow if they try yet again to sabotage the democratic constitutional process of vote of no confidence, it will be the second time the Constitution will be violated. So the PM, president, speaker and deputy speaker will not only be liable to tried under Article 6 twice but also contempt," he tweeted.

Separately, PPP Parliamentary leader in Senate Sherry Rehman Friday termed the speech of Prime Minister Imran Khan as that of a naive man who cannot accept defeat, and who confuses democratic processes with a game, whereas even in a game, one is expected to accept defeat fair and square.

“There is also a despot's expectation to be above the law, while at the same time insisting that only he knows the law,” she said when her reaction on the speech of PM Imran Khan was sought on Friday.

Senator Sherry said Imran Khan seems consumed with delusions of his own ego, which is dangerous because he is now using state resources even on his last day, to inflame passions and work up emotions in a neo-fascist framework of demagoguery. She said in this mindset only he is right, the rest are all wrong, which demonstrates a psyche that sees the world in self-aggrandising fantasies of megalomania and entitlement to perpetual rule, almost like an 18th Century monarch.

Sherry said Imran Khan is adamant on weaponising whatever is left of our foreign relations by hounding anyone who meets a foreign diplomat as a traitor while his own life, his own schizophrenic attitude to the Western world is testament to this dangerous delusion that he has the right to dabble in whatever he likes while others "sell out Pakistan".