ISLAMABAD:
The opposition, while revelling in the victory of former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the Senate election, on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had lost the confidence of the house and therefore should tender his resignation.
Gilani’s election against Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh has been dubbed “the mother of all contests” in the Senate elections. In an upset result for the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the joint candidate of the PDM edged past Shaikh 169-164.
“Democracy is the best revenge,” Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto tweeted immediately after Gilani’s victory was announced. “They are losing, their government is leaving,” he later told the media at a joint press conference with Gilani.
Bilawal’s views were echoed by other PDM leaders. “The fake prime minister has lost majority,” commented PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman. “You no longer have the right to occupy the Prime Minister’s House,” tweeted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz.
At the joint news conference, Bilawal said that whatever injustice the opposition went through, it has been proved that “democracy is the best revenge”, adding: “Everyone has seen the result of no-confidence in the government’s policies… the Prime Minister [Imran Khan] should now resign.”
From now on, the PPP chairman said, the opposition would be “attacking the government from every side and send them packing as soon as possible”. He added that the prime minister would be “ousted” with the collective effort of the people and the opposition.
On the occasion, Gilani thanked the PDM for supporting him in securing the Senate seat. “The PDM won all the Senate elections, in addition to winning the key seat of the Senate from Islamabad,” he said. He added that PML-N Supreme Leader Nawaz Sharif had congratulated him on his election victory.
Separately, talking to reporters at the parliament house, former president and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said that the government had already gone but “those who do not let him go, have been holding it together”.
A journalist asked the former president, “Are those forces neutral to you?” Zardari replied: “Only if you could see.” Probed further if they had ‘any hand in the Senate elections’, the PPP co-chairman again gave a terse reply, but with a smile, “when it was not.”
Maryam Nawaz, the PML-N vice president, took to Twitter to congratulate Gilani and the PDM. She congratulated the National Assembly members of the PML-N for accepting Nawaz Sharif’s stance and “refusing to bow down and sell out”.
“Well done PML-N! The future is yours,” said Maryam. In another post, she claimed that “the fake mandate has been snatched back by the people’s representatives”. She added that the prime minister had no right to occupy the Prime Minister House. “…leave the chair,” she tweeted.
Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfandyar Wali also said that Imran had lost legitimacy to remain in the office after Wednesday’s elections. “The victory of Gilani is the victory of democracy. During a referendum against the government, the MNAs have announced their decision.”
PDM chief Maulana Fazl, while congratulating Gilani, said that the result of the National Assembly showed that “the fake prime minister has lost majority” in the house. “The fake prime minister should resign immediately today,” he said.
Earlier, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said that the nation would never forgive those who brought the country’s journey of progress to a standstill. “Pakistan was on an upward trajectory during Nawaz Sharif’s term, but now, the economy has been brought to a zero,” he said.
“Today, the destitute are finding it hard to make ends meet,” Shehbaz, the opposition leader in the National Assembly told the party’s lawmakers. “The corrupt and ineligible rulers have brought Pakistan on the brink of a disaster,” he added.
(WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)
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