PM’s speech ‘blatant admission of defeat’: opp

ISLAMABAD:

The opposition leaders on Sunday hit back at the “angst-ridden” Prime Minister Imran Khan for resorting to foul language in the face of headwinds and what they called “fatal blows” buffeting his government.

As political rhetoric in the country continues to spiral into an acrimonious verbal slugfest in the wake of the opposition’s no-confidence motion filed against PM Imran, PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif termed PM Imran’s statements a clear “admission of defeat”.

Earlier, addressing a political gathering in Hafizabad, PM Imran had lashed out at the opposition’s efforts to send his government home, saying it was the responsibility of the state to raise voice “when the people who were facing cases in courts join hands and use the money to buy off lawmakers”.

“I did not join politics to know the prices of ‘aloo and tamatar’ but decided to become a politician for the sake of the country's youth,” he added.

Reacting to the premier’s statement, Shehbaz said, “Imran did not come to fix the price of potato and tomato but to ruin the country and the people, which he did successfully and now it’s time for him to go home.”

The PML-N leader said the prime minister has wreaked havoc on the country’s economic growth, alleging that the latter ensured that Pakistan slides down the global corruption ranks.

“But now it is time for him [PM] to go home. He came to anger the friends of Pakistan in the international arena and has fulfilled that agenda, which is why he must go.”

He went on to allege that PM Imran had come to power to hand over the reins of the country’s economic sovereignty to the IMF which, the PML-N leader said, the prime minister has successfully done.

“Imran, your work is done, now go home and let the nation suffering from inflation, unemployment and economic catastrophe breathe a sigh of relief,” he added.

'Bring 172 lawmakers, instead of 1 million people'

On the other hand, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has advised the prime minister that instead of asking one million people to gather in Islamabad, he should consider focusing on bringing together 172 lawmakers in the National Assembly to survive the combined opposition’s no-confidence vote.

Fazl's statement comes as the ruling party is preparing to stage a one-million strong rally at Islamabad’s D-Chowk as part of its efforts to counter the opposition’s attempts to topple the PTI-led government.

Read more: State's responsibility to stop horse-trading, says PM Imran

Addressing a press conference in Dera Ismail Khan, Maulana said that the opposition had now entered the penultimate round of success. In principle, he pointed out, PM Imran should not even address people as he had lost the legitimacy to do so.

Rehman asserted that the entire country was poised to remove PM Imran Khan from his office.

“Bureaucracy and the establishment do not follow Imran Khan's orders, who has lost his senses,” he further said, referring to the premier’s latest statements emphasising that the state should raise voice against opposition’s efforts against the government.

The JUI-F chief also asked the members of the National Assembly to not budge in the face of the prime minister’s tactics to intimidate them into staying within the party’s folds. “Imran Khan is bewildered, MNAs should not be intimidated in any way.”

‘PM betrayed true intentions’

Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) central spokesperson Mohammad Aslam Ghauri sarcastically remarked that PM Imran had spoken the truth, saying that indeed the prime minister had not come to fix the prices of onions and potatoes but to execute his “foreign agenda”.

“Imran came into politics to stop the development of Pakistan and barter away Kashmir,” Ghauri said, adding that the “Niazi government came into politics to promote western civilization”.

He further accused the PTI-led government of being installed by the “West” to trap the nation in a quagmire of debts and economic woes.