-No room for change in decision that Senate Opp leader will be from PML-N,
Maryam tells PPP
-PPP says it has its right to have the opposition leader’s office in Senate
-Fazal says workers will accompany Maryam during NAB appearance on 26th
-Info Minister declares PDM as past story due to immature leadership
From Abid Usman
LAHORE: PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said on Sunday that the leader of the opposition in the Senate would be from the PML-N and that this was a “principled decision” which had already been agreed upon by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership.
Her remarks come days after the PPP formally lodged its protest with the PML-N leadership at the highest level over the latter’s decision to nominate Azam Nazeer Tarar for the office of opposition leader in the Senate.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore with Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maryam said all member parties of the PDM had agreed that they would vote for PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani for the Senate chairman election and JUI-F’s Abdul Ghafoor Haideri for the deputy chairman election, while the opposition leader would be from the PML-N.
“Because this principled decision has already been taken, there is no room for change in this after the victory or loss of anyone,” she said, referring to Gilani’s loss in the Senate chairman election. Maryam added that the PDM had not decided that the decision regarding the opposition leader would be subject to change if the other opposition candidates lost the election for the other Senate posts. “A principled decision has been taken and I hope that according to the principle, all parties will stand by this decision.”
The PML-N leader said Rehman was in agreement with her stance along with other parties of the opposition alliance. She said if anyone was under the impression that any flexibility could be created in the decision then “they can be convinced too that a principled decision has already been taken so there is no need to reopen it”.
PPP had protested Tarar’s nomination by the PML-N leadership because of his being a lawyer for the accused in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. PML-N Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday confirmed that the party had nominated Tarar for the office of the opposition leader in the Senate as per an agreement reached among PDM parties.
Abbasi, who was the head of the committee which had nominated the PDM candidates for the Senate, had claimed that the decision to give the office of the opposition leader to the PML-N was unanimous and it had nothing to do with the election of Gilani as the Senate chairman.
A PPP leader, meanwhile, had claimed that in the meeting of the PDM committee it had been decided that the slot of the opposition leader would go to the PML-N only if Gilani succeeded in the Senate chairman’s election. He said being the largest party on opposition benches in the Senate, it was the right of the PPP to have the opposition leader’s office. Maulana Fazlur Rehman has announced that our workers will accompany Maryam Nawaz during NAB appearance on March 26. He said that we will wait for the decision of the PPP regarding the resignations. He hoped that PPP would respect the wishes of the remaining nine parties of the PDM. The political meeting discussed the future of the PDM and the political situation in the country, including the long march after Eid.
Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz Sunday declared Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a grand opposition alliance, as a story of the past and said the alliance actually led by politically immature and juvenile leaders. “PDM leaders were fighting for their personal interests rather than for the sake of the people,” he expressed these views while addressing a press conference here.
The minister said that the opposition’s movement had failed miserably as it could not impress the people. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz was pursuing disastrous egoistic and stubborn politics. Her childish policies had ruined the PML-N. Parties in the PDM were at loggerheads with each other and were serving their own interests. They were not following the interest of the people and were pursuing only self centred politics . The country’s economy had started performing better as compared to other countries in the region, he added.
The minister said the corrupt mafia considered itself above the law. Completion of public welfare and development projects during the remaining tenure was the priority of the government, he added. Shibli Faraz urged the opposition, specifically Jamiat Ulema e Islam Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman to not misguide the people about coronavirus and its vaccination. Commenting on PDM’s press briefing, he said the government was not worried about their plans but they should do something positive that could help the masses during the coronavirus pandemic.
He informed that the government was taking optimum measures to control the inflation and was trying to expand the targeted subsidy to facilitate masses, adding, the difficult phase of economic hardship had already been passed.
