By-polls if PTI resigns en bloc: PMLN, PPP

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said on Sunday that by-elections would be held if the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) resigned en bloc from the National Assembly.

Talking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, hosted by Shahzad Iqbal, PMLN leader Ahsan Iqbal said by-elections would be held on vacant seats if the PTI members resigned en masse. He said the strategy was in line with what the PTI government used to say when there was talk about en bloc resignations from the PDM platform. However, he believed that most members of the PTI parliamentary party would oppose mass resignations. “Imran has many un-elected advisers and they are giving him such ideas. Poor advice like this has brought about his fall. In fact, the PTI lacks the numerical strength to jolt the entire system. If the PTI disrupts the system in KP, new elections would be held,” he added.

Meanwhile, the PPP said it did not believe in vindictive politics and if the PTI resigned, by-elections would be held on vacant seats. Addressing a press conference, PPP-Parliamentarians Information Secretary Shazia Marri and PPP Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi congratulated the nation on the success of the no-confidence motion. “We got rid of an incompetent and insensitive government through a democratic way. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari staged a public march against the selected government and though the PTI staged many dramas to cling to power yet the no-confidence motion succeeded. The PTI tried to violate the Constitution and law,” she added.

Shazia Marri said, “Now Imran Niazi is provoking people and trying to sell a false narrative. Before inciting the people, you have to account for your deeds as the country cannot afford further division. Imran Khan praises India even more than the Indian prime minister. He should regret his statement and refrain from praising India,” she said, adding that anything could be expected from him. “Everybody know Indian Prime Minister Modi’s hands are stained with the blood of Kashmiris,” she added.

Kundi said the former National Assembly speaker would be remembered as a violator of the Constitution and he must be tried under Article 6. “His team was present in the parliament but the captain ran away. Imran Khan was begging for an NRO till the last minute on Saturday night,” he claimed.