Following the submission of a no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan, Punjab Assembly Speaker and PML-Q leader Pervaiz Elahi stated that all PTI allies are “100% inclined” to the opposition.
“It is Khan sahab’s responsibility to correct the imbalance. However, I believe the time has passed for sending delegations [to ensure support]. This could have been averted if he had done it earlier “At an interview with Hum News, the speaker, whose party is an ally of the PTI in the Centre and Punjab, remarked.
Just weeks before a vote on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s no-confidence motion, the speaker described the alliance of the three major Opposition parties — JUI-F, PML-N, and PPP — as long-lasting and stable.
The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), the government’s biggest ally in the Centre, guaranteed Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday complete support ahead of the no-trust motion, but other allies — the BAP, MQM-P, and PML-Q — remain undecided.
The statement comes only hours after Prime Minister Imran Khan stated the entire country was ready to die with him rather than support the “three stooges” amid escalating political tensions.
“When the people saw the faces of the three stooges — PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari — they decided against supporting them and expressed their desire to go down with [me],” the prime minister said in an address to an overseas Pakistani convention in Islamabad.
The prime minister congratulated the Opposition for moving the no-confidence motion, saying that it had strengthened his party, with people gearing up for the March 27 rally at D-Chowk, which is likely to take place just a day before the National Assembly votes on the motion.
As the PTI waits for their final decision, the government’s partners — BAP, MQM-P, and PML-Q — have been meeting with each other and even the opposition parties.
A game of numbers
The three allies have 17 seats in the National Assembly, which is remarkable. The PTI government’s strength will decline to 162 from 179 if these parties join the opposition, and the total number of MNAs in the unified opposition will rise to 179.
The Opposition needed the support of 172 MNAs to pass the no-trust resolution. The NA presently has 341 members, with one seat still vacant.
