PM faces ire of PML-N, PPP after his Q&A show

The PML-N and the PPP – the two main opposition parties – on Sunday lambasted Prime Minister Imran Khan shortly after his public interaction through a TV show ended, accusing him of shifting the blame for his “failure” to rein in the high prices of essential goods to a global phenomenon. PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz took to Twitter to say that the premier sounded like a man who had conceded defeat.

“Every word that Imran Khan uttered today reeks of failure, dashed hopes and no faith in his or PTI’s future. This was inevitable, man,” she wrote. “You are history & the history that we will be taught as a lesson of caution to those who rely more on conspiracy & plotting than people’s power.”

She maintained that PM Imran sounded like a person who had not only been defeated but also accepted it. “[Four] years into the govt & he is still only whining.”

he added that the “cartels” he was complaining about are the “mafias on your right & left who have fleeced 220 million & who run your kitchen”. The PML-N leader further wrote that the cases made by the PTI government against her father, former premier Nawaz Sharif, and uncle, Shehbaz Sharif were false and fabricated.

“[These cases] were bound to meet the fate they have met. Now that your reality has dawned on the world, do not blame the judiciary. You have only your vindictiveness & revengefulness to blame.”
She continued that PM Imran’s “dashed hopes” were a new hope for the country’s “incompetency & ineptitude stricken people” who are waiting for him to spare them the four-year-long ordeal that had cost them their lives.

She rubbished the premier’s threats that he would become if ousted from power. In fact, she added that the nation would celebrate and be grateful to the Almighty if he was sent packing. “You are neither Nawaz Sharif, who is backed by the people, nor are you poor and oppressed.”

She called the premier a “conspirator” and a victim of his own wrongdoings.

Maryam told PM Imran that there was no use of whining and making a fuss now. “You better pack up your stuff and leave. As long as you cling to power you will only aggravate the problems of yourself and the people. You have suffered a humiliating defeat.”

In a statement, PPP’s Shazia Marri claimed that the “incompetent” prime minister had hosted an “ordered programme” on TV channels. She added that once PM Imran was no longer in power, he would be left all alone.

Also read: Will be more dangerous if out of power, PM Imran warns opposition

“In three and a half years, the prime minister has only managed to achieve the rise in poverty line.”
The PPP leader warned that though her party did not play the politics of revenge, but it would not spare those who had devastated the country.

“The way he [PM Imran] has treated the sisters and daughters of his opponents, he must prepare himself for a similar treatment.”

Marri further said the people would reach Islamabad on February 27 – the date of the PPP’s march -- to end his rule.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb also hit out at the premier following his programme.
In statement, she said PM Imran was not talking to the people but actually seeking a “job extension”.

“Anyone whose job is running on notice period will remember Shehbaz Sharif,” she added. She described the premier’s talk as the “expression of the feelings of a disappointed, incompetent loser and a thief”.

“Don't panic Imran sahib, now’s the time to go home.” She claimed that if the premier had done something for the people in the last four years, he wouldn’t have to make a fuss over Nawaz or Shehbaz.