PML-N Punjab chapter President Rana Sanaullah has claimed that the opposition is in contact with several treasury benches lawmakers and they are ready to jump ship to support the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“More people (MNAs) are ready to leave them (government) than required to foil vote of confidence in parliament, he said on Saturday while speaking to media after the court hearing in Lahore.
His statement comes as the disgruntled Jahangir Tareen group is considering supporting the opposition in the no-trust move against the PTI-led government. Sanaullah said after entering the ‘comfort zone,’ the PML-N along with other opposition parties will decide whether to move a no-trust motion in the Punjab Assembly or the National Assembly first.
The PML-N leader said the ruling PTI’s lawmakers and its coalition partners no longer wanted to support the incumbent regime and contest the next general elections from its platform. While responding to a question, he said that if the PTI-led government is not wary of the opposition’s no-confidence bid then why it is planning to give ministries to its allies and woo them through development funds.
Sanaullah also said Imran Khan is not concerned about the deteriorating law and order situation in the country and added that the premier only held meetings to mull ways to victimise his opponents.
Sanaullah said that nothing could be proved in the drug case filed by Anti-Narcotics Force against him in 2019. Similarly, he said despite the passage of three years no corruption allegation has been proved against other opposition members.
Sanaullah said the government’s own members were “frustrated” with it and no longer wished to conduct politics or contest next elections alongside it. “The people who are with us are with us. Even if they have later talked about them (their talks) differently in front of the press, we don’t have a grievance about it,” Sanaullah said, possibly referring to the recent talks held between the PML-N and PML-Q leadership, following which PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi had publicly assured the premier that he did not need to worry about the meetings.
He also said the opposition was not looking towards any “umpire’s finger” — a reference to the establishment’s support — and demanded that no “finger” should interfere in the political process. “Politics is the job of political parties,” he added, stressing that all institutions should work within their constitutional limits.
The PML-N lawmaker also lashed out at PM Imran’s speech in Mandi Bahauddin, claiming that the premier was concerned with crushing dissent and its critics such as Mohsin Jamil Baig and the opposition instead of focusing on issues of law and order in the country.
Sanaullah also criticised the government for “failing to provide proof” in the accusations and cases registered against the opposition such as himself and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.
Rana Sanaullah avoided the question of reporters regarding secret meeting between his party president Shehbaz Sharif and sidelined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jahangir Khan Tareen.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Imran Khan for his ignoble remarks against political rivals, Rana Sanaullah said that Friday’s Mandi Bahauddin public meeting of PTI was mere a show to hurl abuses at the opposition.
