Shehbaz, Fazl discuss no-trust move against PM

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his residence in the federal capital and the two opposition leaders considered bringing a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Sources said they also discussed the success of long march to be staged by the opposition alliance – Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which is headed by the JUI-F chief. They also tried to figure out strategies to thwart the mini-budget bill. The government’s overall performance as well as that in the recent Murree tragedy was also reviewed.

Later talking to the media, Shehbaz, accompanied by Fazl, said he had not met the JUI-F chief for a long time. The leader of the opposition in the National Assembly congratulated Fazl on his party’s victory in the first phase of the local body elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. “You [JUI-F] have defeated PTI in the first phase,” he added.

Shehbaz said it had been agreed to convene a meeting of the PDM leadership on January 25.
“The participants of the meeting will discuss the anti-inflation long march and organisational issues.”
Elaborating on his meeting with the JUI-F chief, Shehbaz said they had discussed the “draconian” policies of the PTI government and the fresh wave of inflation that the mini-budget would unleash.

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“It was decided that the opposition would jointly resist these actions.” The PML-N president maintained that the country was going through its most difficult period since its inception, adding that there were economic challenges as well as external problems. “I have not seen a more incompetent government in 74 years than that of the PTI. It is time for us to use all constitutional, legal and political weapons at our disposal against it.”

Speaking on the occasion, the JUI-F chief claimed that the mini-budget would bring about a new storm of inflation. He added that the present government was more focused on the interests of international organisations than that of the people. “In such a situation, the anti-inflation has become even more important. The whole nation will come to Islamabad and fight against inflation.”

He announced that this revolutionary step in the history of the country would be taken on March 23 at the national level. Fazl said the network of motorways was laid and power generation increased during former premier Nawaz Sharif's government. He added that the fact should be acknowledged that institutions had not interfered in the local body elections, and the results were there for everyone to see.
“We expect them not to interfere in the general elections as well.”

The JUI-F chief said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should make independent decisions instead of working on somebody’s dictation. “We will not accept arbitrary results.” Fazl said he rejected the proposal to call out the troops for the second phase of the LG polls in K-P. “There is no issue of law and order. The ECP should not make itself controversial.”