Shibli asks PML-N to hand in resignation

Information minister claims PDM has lost its steam; has nothing left to say

ISLAMABAD:

Minister for Information Senator Shibli Faraz has asked the PML-N leadership to take practical steps and hand in resignation from the legislatures instead of “wasting the nation’s time” and making “hollow threats”.

“After its flop show at the Minar-e-Pakistan, the opposition has lost its steam. Their announcement to hold an inflation march after a long march is a manifestation of their shrinking and retreating agenda.

“The PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement] has nothing left to do or say,” the information minister said in a series of posts on popular micro-blogging site Twitter on Wednesday.

The PDM – an 11-party opposition alliance that was formed in September with the avowed aim to dislodge the PTI led federal government –recently concluded the first phase of its anti-government campaign after holding six rallies in all four provinces.

The PDM announced that all lawmakers from the opposition parties would submit their resignations from the assembly seats to their respective party leadership by December 31. It also set a deadline for the government to quit by January 31.

In an earlier tweet, the minister declared the opposition alliance an amalgamation of self-serving groups with different directions, interests and motivations. “This incongruous gathering is going to be exposed in public,” he added.

Referring to the internal divide that has emerged in the JUI-F, one of the major parties in the PDM, Shibli said the people [JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman] who were trying to start an anti-government movement are now themselves facing a movement.

“The statements of [JUI-F senior leaders] Maulana Sherani and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed testify to this.”

Talking to the media Dec 22, Sherani criticized his own party chief, saying Fazl is himself a “selected” leader and that the PDM is an “unnatural alliance” that will soon break up because it has no ideology.

“My basic and principled difference with him [Fazl] is [that he is] lying,” Sherani, also a former chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), said.

In another tweet, Shibli Faraz claimed that the people who prefer personal interests over the national interest will get nothing but disgrace.

“Nothing good is going to come from the chaotic politics of confused opposition. May God give opposition the ability to see the people and their problems instead of mere pursuit of power,” he added.

Talking to a private news channel, Shibli said the PPP, which rules Sindh province, will never resign at the behest of the PDM parties. “The political parties in PDM have differences of opinion over the question of resigning from legislatures,” he added.

The minister also declared former prime minister Nawaz Sharif the founder of corruption in Pakistan. “The previous governments of the PML-N and the PPP appointed people to key positions without observing merit. They are responsible for damaging national institutions.”

The opposition leaders, he said, promoted political dynasties in Pakistan. He, however, claimed that the PTI government is not involved in any corruption scandal.