Every party has right to replace me, says Shah

MQM-P confirms being in talks with PTI to remove PPP member as leader of opposition

KARACHI: Downplaying reports of talks between two key opposition parties for his removal, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah has said every party reserves the right to have its member chosen as the opposition leader.

“In politics, there are no [permanent] friends and foes, and every party has the right to have its member elected as the leader of opposition,” Shah said on Saturday.

The PPP leader was talking to media in his native town of Sukkur and responding to a query about the ongoing consultations between the MQM and the PTI to remove the PPP’s Shah from the key position.

“It is good to see that the PTI and the MQM P have settled their differences,” Shah added in an oblique reference to the longstanding dispute between the two parties.



Meanwhile, MQM-Pakistan leader Aminul Haq confirmed to The Express Tribune that his party and the PTI are in talks in a bid to remove Shah and get their own consensus candidate elected as the opposition leader in the lower house,

According to Haq, who is also a member of the MQM’s decision-making Rabita Committee, the talks between the two parties are in their initial phase and will take a definitive shape once leaders from both the parties reach a consensus over the move and its possible outcomes.

PTI Vice Chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who in known for his negotiation skills, is leading the talks and is expected to meet MQM-P chief Farooq Sattar on his visit to Karachi. The dates of the meeting are not confirmed though.

Haq said Shah failed to represent the opposition as a whole rather he acted as the leader of the PPP. He did not raise any concern or move a resolution in parliament condemning attack on Sindh assembly’s Leader of Opposition Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, a frontline MQM leader.



“No final decision has been made. We are just talking and considering the options currently,” he added.

The PTI is the second largest opposition party with 32 seats in the National Assembly, followed by MQM-P which has 24 seats. The PPP boasts support of 47 members. Rest of the political parties – Jamaat-e-Islami, Awami National Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Q – have five or less seats in the NA.

Shah’s media talks

The opposition leader said the ruling PML-N could gain nothing by refusing to accept the Panamagate case verdict and would have to accept the top court’s decision ultimately.

Answering a question, he said name of the new graft watchdog had not been finalised, though talks with the heads of political parties on the issue had taken place.

With regard to the arrest warrant for PTI chief Imran Khan, Shah said the Election Commission of Pakistan is a constitutional institution and refusing to accept its directives is tantamount to contempt.

“Imran is often quoted as saying that Nawaz doesn’t comply with the directives of national institutions, but now he himself isn’t abiding by their decisions,” he added.