ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday telephoned Balochistan National Party (BNP) chief, Sardar Akhtar Mengal and National Party head Dr. Abdul Malik and congratulated both leaders on the success of PDM joint candidate, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani in the Senate elections.
While talking to them, he said that PDM’s joint candidate Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani’s victory is the victory of democracy. Strong opposition alliance created cracks in government’s ranks.
Bilawal Bhutto said that PM Imran Khan’s so-called change was also rejected by conscientious public representatives of the government.
Chairman PPP also telephoned the President Awami National Party Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter, Aimal Wali Khan and discussed the current political situation of the country. He also congratulated Aimal Wali Khan on the victory of PDM’s joint candidate Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani.
Maryam Nawaz
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Friday lashed out at the Prime Minister for criticising the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for its decisions and conduct, especially in the context of recent Senate election.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Friday said the military leadership “should not have been seen” with Prime Minister Imran Khan a day after the ruling PTI suffered what she called a “battering” in the recent Senate elections.
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, she accused the premier of dragging the institutions into politics despite the military repeatedly asking politicians not to do so.
Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had met Imran at Prime Minister House on Thursday, a day after the much-hyped Senate polls took place. Director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence Lt Gen Faiz Hameed was also present during the meeting.
No statement on the meeting was issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, which normally gives out press releases on such interactions. However, people were quick to link the meeting to the latest political developments in the country following the Senate elections in which the ruling coalition suffered an upset on the seat for the federal capital where Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh lost to the joint opposition candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani.
She said that the government has lost trust of the masses as recent by-elections from all across the country have shown public displeasure to the government’s policies. On the ECP statement issued in response to Prime Minister Imran’s criticism of the body for conducting the Senate elections through secret ballot, Maryam said the whole nation and institutions now understand what a mafia is and how they pressurise and defame institutions.
She said the ECP stand for holding the polls through secret ballot was not its personal opinion but a Constitutional stance which was more or less accepted by the apex court.
No institution except the Parliament can amend the Constitution, she stated.
She said the PM’s ‘charge-sheet’ against the ECP implied that the government had no problem with the ECP in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab where it won Senate seats. “When you lost on a single Islamabad seat then the ECP is bad,” she added.
She said now even the institutions know who is making them controversial. “They [institutions] know who is bullying them,” she said.
Answering a question, Maryam said she was surprised that Saturday’s National Assembly session, in which Prime Minister Imran will seek a vote of confidence, has been called under Article 91(7).
“I congratulate the President for summoning the session and stated that the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the people,” she said.
She said the summary sent by the President for summoning the session itself accepts that Imran Khan has lost the confidence of the public and demanded that this summary be made public.