From Our
Correspondent
LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday directed his party’s lawmakers not to leave the country ahead of the no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Sources quoted Shehbaz as saying that National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser was “conspiring” to send PML-N parliamentarians abroad by including their names in foreign trips.
The PML-N president, the sources said, has barred all MNAs not to become a part of such visits and ensure their presence in the country since the no-confidence motion was about to be tabled in the lower house.
PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, while confirming the development, reasoned that the members were barred as they do not want to travel abroad on the expense of the masses, who are already battling rising inflation. She said that people were forced to starve due to inflation, unemployment but the government was planning unnecessary foreign trips. “Wasting millions of rupees in these visits is nothing but corruption and robbery,” she added. Marriyum further said that ‘sensible’ Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members would also refuse to be a part of these visits.
Sources in the opposition parties claimed that the no-confidence motion against the government was expected to be tabled in the National Assembly by March 8 or 9.
They said that draft was ready but the timing of presenting the motion was still being deliberated upon, hoping that this time around it would finally be submitted in the assembly secretariat.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has come down hard on the opposition parties for bringing a no-confidence motion against his government, saying that he had confidence in the party’s lawmakers and homework was complete to defeat the opposition parties’ move.
While challenging the opposition parties that have long been threatening the government with long marches and no-trust motion, sources revealed, the prime minister had said that the opposition was more than welcome to test the waters by going ahead with their move to oust him.
In meetings with party’s lawmakers, the sources said, PM Imran, while discussing the government’s strategy about no-confidence motion, emphasised that “everything was fine” and that he had full confidence in the lawmakers of the PTI.
The prime minister’s statement came against the backdrop of intense speculations that some of the ruling party parliamentarians were in contact with the opposition on the much-hyped no-confidence motion plans and were ready to jump ship.
