| Identifies Zardari, Shahbaz and Fazl as his next three targets | Says no-trust motion Opposition’s ‘political death’ | Asserts opposition was ‘trapped’ to submit no-confidence motion | Believes after defeating opposition in No-Trust Move, ‘shackles on his hand will be broken’
From Zeeshan Mirza
Karachi: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said the opposition “was now stuck” after submitting a no-confidence motion against his premiership and he has plans for when the move against his government “fails”.
Addressing party workers and supporters at Governor House Karachi, the premier said that the no-confidence motion would be the “political death” of the joint opposition.
“The dacoits are trembling, the opposition is now stuck and the kaptaan has made preparations for when they fail. I will go after them; I will not leave them,” said a confident Imran as his premiership faces the threat of the no-trust move by the opposition.
Before his address at the Governor House in Karachi, the prime minister met the leadership of MQM-P and was assured of ‘full support’ ahead of the no-trust move.
Turning his “gun” onto former president and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, the prime minister said he was the “next target”. “Asif Zardari your time has come”. “He (Asif Zardari) has been on my radar for a long time,” the premier said. “He has used the police and thugs to get people killed and is involved in corruption and sending money abroad.”
Imran said one of PTI’s MNA’s was recently offered Rs200 million by the PPP leader. “I told him he should have taken it as it was ill-gotten money and used it for some charity work,” he said.
The prime minister also berated Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, calling him a ‘boot polisher’. Imran said Shehbaz comes up with a new excuse every time for avoiding court.
“You (Shehbaz Sharif) know that you would be in prison after three months,” the premier said. “Your time has come as well.”
He also said that he would reduce electricity prices further after “retrieving looted public money from Shehbaz’s son-in-law and son”.
Elaborating on his governance, a visibly happy Imran told the gathering that he was trying to stabilise the country for the past three-and-a-half years and had been carrying out his political struggle against such ‘dacoits’ for the past 25 years.
“I am fighting for my country,” said the politically charged prime minister, reiterating that he would not spare the opposition. “My hands which had been chained are now untied. I would not stop when we will win against this no-confidence motion.”
“I am not doing politics, I have been doing a jihad.”
‘Will tour interior Sindh soon’
The prime minister announced during his address that he was going to tour interior Sindh “soon”.
He added that it was his mission to rid the region of the injustices done by the “Zardari mafia for the past 14 years”.
“People of Sindh want freedom from dacoit Zardari,” he said.
Congratulating the people of Karachi for the circular railway project, Imran said further effects of the development package for the metropolis will be seen in the near future.
No-confidence motion
On Tuesday, the united opposition front submitted a no-confidence motion against the chief executive of the country – Prime Minister Imran Khan – while pinning its hopes for the success of the motion on the estranged members of the ruling party and its allies.
The submission of the motion was followed by a press conference by the top leadership of the opposition parties, including PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, JUI-F and PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PPP leader Asif Zardari, who said that the days of the prime minister were numbered and that no rhetoric could save him anymore.
At the press conference, the top guns of the opposition parties appeared confident that they would succeed in passing the no-trust motion against the premier, saying the opposition would surely bring the members and make sure that it had more than 172 members’ support.
The top opposition figures lambasted the poor performance of the premier and listed down reasons for tabling the no-confidence motion, the chief among them was the government destroying the economy and failing to provide the promised relief to the masses.
“This government has inflicted unprecedented damage to the country’s economy during its almost four years in power,” Shehbaz said at the outset of the joint presser while explaining the reasons for submitting the motion against Imran. “Inflation has touched historic highs…the lives of the masses have been made miserable by ‘selected’ prime minister.”
The government has been walking a tightrope for the past several weeks and with mounting pressure from the opposition parties and finally submitting of no-trust motion, the prime minister, however, repeatedly said that he was prepared to defeat the opposition’s moves.
