- Opposition leaders want Prime Minister Imran Khan to resign after their Senate candidate, Yusuf Raza Gillani, won the Islamabad seat.
- PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto, PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz, PDM’s Fazlur Rehman react to Senate election results
- Bilawal says PM Khan should now resign “honourably”
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The Opposition parties are in good spirits after the victory of their candidate former prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in the Senate elections from Islamabad, leaving behind the government’s candidate, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.
They have termed the win a “historic victory”.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan Democratic President Maulana Fazlur Rehman and others from the Opposition have now demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“The PDM has won through the votes of members of Pakistan’s assemblies. They say that Imran Khan was a big sportsman, and in sports you have an honourable and dishonorable defeat, so I think Imran Khan should not throw such tantrums,” Bilawal said, addressing a press conference with Senator-elect Gilani at the Zardari House in Islamabad Wednesday.
Bilawal said the people of Pakistan understand that the burden they’re carrying right now of power and utility bills and expenses for essential commodities is because of Imran Khan’s incompetence. “Our goal right now is for this puppet government to go home so that people can be provided with some relief. This government, till now, has only tortured the people,” he said.
He said PM Khan should now resign “honourably” as not only had the people of Pakistan, but his own members had deserted him. Bilawal said it is a new era in Pakistan’s democratic journey. “I am going to meet Opposition Leader Mian Shahbaz Sharif too,” he said.
He said this election isn’t only about one seat because all of Pakistan had voted for this seat. “Gilani was elected as the speaker of the House and the prime minister and after today, God willing, he will be elected as the Senate chairman.”
He said the PPP knows that elections were rigged and we know that losing and winning is a part of it, but we should also have an equal playing field for everyone. “We believe that if there is an even playing field, the Pakistani people can elect representatives who are able to solve their issues,” he said.
Bilawal said that [Foreign Minister] Shah Mahmood Qureshi was a senior politician, but he was crying like a child. “Instead of crying and showing hesitation, Qureshi should advise Imran Khan to resign,” he said.
This is a victory of democracy: Yusuf Raza Gilani
Gilani was thankful to the PPP chairperson and the PDM leadership, including PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, JUI-F’s Fazl, Akhtar Mengal and the ANP leadership.
He said this was a victory of democracy. “The Islamabad seat was the most important seat in the Senate elections and everyone was eyeing it,” he said.
No justification left to continue occupation of PM House, Maryam tells Imran Khan
PML-N’s Maryam, too, demanded PM Khan resign as the Leader of the House in the National Assembly.
“You have no more justification to continue occupation of the Prime Minister’s House. Vote chor, kursi chorr (vote thief, leave seat),” Maryam wrote on Twitter.
She said people’s representatives have snatched back the fake mandate. “Their own people, while not succumbing to pressure, refused to vote criminal people, vote thief, sugar thief, electricity thief and atta thief,” she said. “Well done both members from the government and opposition benches,” she said.
Time for vote of confidence gone: Fazl
There is no need to seek the vote of confidence from the National Assembly as he [PM Khan] has already lost majority in the House, said PDM’s Fazl.
The time has gone for a vote of confidence.
He said Imran Khan should now admit that he has lost majority in the NA. “There is no justification for Imran Khan to remain in power,” Fazl said.
He shared that the PDM leadership will soon hold a meeting of party heads to finalise a future strategy.
Ahsan Iqbal, who was also present on the occasion, said that winning the Senate seat from Islamabad was the first major step in moving towards real democracy for which the opposition was struggling.
To a question, Ahsan Iqbal said that Prime Minister Imran Khan himself fell victim to Ali Haider Gilani formula in which he was telling MNAs how to waste the ballot paper. “Prime Minister Imran Khan himself fell victim to the Ali Gilani formula,” he said.