Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman hit back at Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday for using “foul language” against them, warning him that ‘they knew how to control him’.
Their reaction comes soon after PM Imran at a public gathering in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Dir area fired a broadside at the opposition leaders, calling them “stooges and bouquet of thieves”.
Referring to Fazl as ‘diesel’, Imran had said army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had asked him not to call the politician ‘diesel’. “I am not the one saying it… people have given him this name”. He had also claimed that the opposition parties wanted to topple his government through no-confidence motion to halt accountability process.
Speaking at a joint press conference after meeting with the JUI-F chief in Islamabad, Shahbaz condemned the language used by the premier against his political opponents.
“He [PM Imran] is calling Nawaz Sharif a fugitive even though he is about to become the same… Niazi is a by-product of rigged elections. Imran Khan says that Shahbaz Sharif polishes boots even though he was brought into power by establishment,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, the JUI-F chief also slammed the premier for his diatribe against opposition leaders, saying “he has lost his senses and is not mentally stable”.
“He was born without manners… the nation will soon get rid of him,” he said, adding that Imran Khan’s language reflected that “he is not eligible to be the prime minister of the country”.
Fazl, who also heads anti-government alliance PDM, urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take notice of PM Imran’s explosive speeches. “Pakistan can no longer afford such people to become leader.”
He asked the government to fight political battle in parliament against no-trust move if they have support of majority of lawmakers instead of resorting to using “abusive language” against its opponents. “We have a majority to pass no-confidence motion,” he reiterated.
When asked to comment on PM Imran’s comment on General Bajwa’s advice asking the premier to not call the JUI-F chief a diesel, Fazl said: “I have no idea about this and I do not stoop to his [PM Imran] level,” he responded.
