Imran knew he would be defeated from the very beginning: Maryam Nawaz
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz has asserted that Prime Minister Imran Khan knew from the start that he was heading for defeat in the Senate elections, which is why he introduced ordinances and involved the Supreme Court (SC) in the polls.
Addressing a general council meeting of the PML-N, she said: “Where was your democracy sleeping, when you and your selectors rigged the Senate elections a few years ago when Bizenjo tried to become the Senate chairperson and despite opposition parties have more numbers, lost it?”
Maryam asked where PM Imran would obtain a confidence vote from when he had lost in the polls. She further said that PM Imran was seeking a vote of confidence from his party right after accusing them of taking bribes. The PML-N VP said that whenever the upcoming polls are held, the PML-N will sweep them. She criticised the prime minister, telling him that “pride comes before the fall”.
“What did you think, that the PML-N and Nawaz Sharif are without God? Didn’t you think about karma?” she asked. She thanked her party workers for upholding PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif’s narrative and for voting for Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) joint candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani.
“They say Nawaz Sharif’s narrative is too heavy for anyone to carry. The weight of Nawaz’s narrative was carried by the PML-N workers,” she said, adding that the slogan of “Vote Ko Izzat Do” was being accepted by people across the country.
Referring to her father, former prime minister Nawaz as a “trendsetter”, Maryam heaped praise on him, saying that whenever he decides to do something, the PML-N supremo does so. Responding to rumours of rigging in the Senate elections, Maryam in turn asked if the byelections were rigged as well. She , during the by-elections, had shared multiple videos that supposedly showed the stealing of “bagfuls of votes” and had called for recounts multiple times.
“With my head bowed in humiliation, I say that money did not prevail [in Senate elections]. Rather, the PML-N’s ticket prevailed,” a jubilant Maryam said.
Maryam said that the prime minister should not say that his lawmakers sold out, adding that everyone knew this was the first and last time PM Imran Khan had gotten elected to power. “You and your MNAs and MPAs know, you have no future and you have no party,” she said, referring to PM Imran.
President Arif Alvi has summoned the session of the lower house of the Parliament on Saturday, as Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to seek a vote of confidence. According to a notification issued by the NA Secretariat on Thursday, the session has been summoned for the purpose of requiring the prime minister to obtain a vote of confidence from the National Assembly (NA) under Article 91(7) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president has summoned the National Assembly session in the exercise of powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 54 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Shaikh suffered defeat at the hands of Gilani in a major upset in Wednesday’s Senate polls as the latter secured 169 votes as against 164 bagged by the former. It has been stipulated that the rejected votes played a key role in the opposition candidate’s win as these exceeded the margin of victory. Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry announced on Twitter that PM Imran will seek a confidence vote from the lower house on Saturday after the major upset in the Senate elections, wherein Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate and Federal Minister of Finance Hafeez Shaikh lost to Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) joint candidate and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader Yousaf Raza Gilani. Fawad added that the session will commence at 12:15 pm. In this regard, it emerged that the prime minister has barred members of National Assembly (MNAs) of PTI from leaving Islamabad. As per details, PM Imran has directed all members to ensure their attendance in next session of the NA. Chief Whip Aamir Dogar has conveyed directions of the premier to all lawmakers of the ruling party. During a meeting chaired by PM Imran, it was also decided to summon a special session of NA on Saturday in which the premier will take vote of confidence. Sources have further said that Prime Minister Imran has also summoned a meeting of his legal team to discuss the vote. Meanwhile, former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday has said that since Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had lost the Senate election on Wednesday (March 3), the prime minister had lost trust of the NA, and, therefore, the only solution to defuse the crisis was holding fresh elections in the country. Talking to newsmen here along with Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Abbasi said that it was PDM’s open challenge to Prime Minister Imran Khan to face the opposition in elections. “Now the National Assembly could no more be run through ‘rigging’ and ‘intimidation’,” the former prime minister said, and added the sooner elections were held the better it was for the country. Terming the defeat of the ruling PTI’s candidate from Islamabad in Senate elections unprecedented and an expression of “no trust” in Prime Minister Imran, former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, on behalf of the PDM, has asked the prime minister that he should resign forthwith. “As many as 17 members of the ruling PTI voted against the party lines thus showing noconfidence in the leadership of PM Imran,” the PPP leader said. A day earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, while addressing a press conference alongside senior party leaders after the election results came in, had said that those standing with Prime Minister Imran will be seen on one side and those who prefer the ideology of PPP and PML-N have every right to join their ranks.