Chaudhry also censured the party for what he characterised as oscillating between two narratives depending on the situation…reports Asian Lite News
A war of words between the PTI and PML-N erupted on Sunday with PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry alleging that PML-N “has begun to speak against the judiciary, and over the next few days, it will begin speaking against the army as well”, media reports said.
Chaudhary further alleged that PML-N “feels it has made a big mistake by aligning itself with the establishment against Imran Khan” and now the party’s vice-president Maryam Nawaz will “seek to push an anti-establishment narrative”, Geo News reported.
“The flaw in this scheme is that the people are no longer those of the 1990s and the competition is with Imran Khan,” Chaudhry said, the report said.
He said the PML-N’s plan of action will see it “completely forced out” of the country’s politics but “the institutions will suffer damage” in the process.
“Had they stayed within their limits, this would not have happened. But anyway, the PML-N will now target institutions,” he said.
Chaudhry also censured the party for what he characterised as oscillating between two narratives depending on the situation.
“They were brought into being by the establishment and the brothers (Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif) decided that one will do pro-establishment politics, whereas the other will sell an anti-establishment narrative. When one narrative failed, they sought to push the other. This formula is also being transferred to the next generation,” Chaudhary alleged, Geo News reported.
It bears mentioning that a day earlier, Maryam Nawaz had said that the PML-N will not accept “unilateral” decisions by the Supreme Court of Pakistan after it ruled that the Chief Minister of Punjab province, Hamza Shahbaz, will work as a trustee CM till Monday.
Meanwhile, the frustration after the result of the Punjab chief minister’s re-election cooled down when the Supreme Court gave its verdict in the favour of the PTI, the party said that the decision would rout Pakistan Muslim League-N from Punjab, reported The Express Tribune.
The party further claimed the fall of Hamza Shehbaz-led government was a ‘fait accompli’.
Speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court’s Lahore registry on Saturday, PTI leader Farrukh Habib said that PML-N had lost the political battle and was left with no option to salvage the teetering Punjab government led by PML-N.
“Nobody is ready to defend the illegal and unconstitutional ruling of the deputy speaker,” he said.
The PTI leader was referring to the apex court’s short order issued earlier in the day, wherein the top court suspended the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker’s ruling and restrained Hamza to exercise absolute powers and serve only as a “trustee” chief minister until the hearing resumed in Islamabad on Monday.
The ruling came a day after the dramatic day, Hamza Shehbaz has been re-elected as Chief Minister of Punjab as the provincial Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari rejected the votes of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
As the vote counting in the crucial session of the Punjab provincial assembly began, Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari ruled that PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s votes will not be counted in the election of the Punjab Chief Minister in light of party head Chaudhry Shujaat’s letter, the Dawn reported.
According to Mazari, the joint candidate of PTI and PML-Q, Pervaiz Elahi received 186 votes, while Hamza Shehbaz got 179 votes. However, 10 votes of the PML-Q leader were cancelled by Deputy Speaker, reducing his vote count to 176.
Before announcing the result, Mazari read Shujaat’s letter out loud. “As party head of Pakistan Muslim League, I have issued directions to all my provincial members to cast their votes in favour of Muhammad Hamza Shehbaz Sharif,” Mazari quoted Hussain as saying, the Dawn reported.
“As per this letter, according to the ruling of the Supreme Court, all the 10 votes cast by PML-Q leaders have been rejected,” Mazari ruled. The 10 members whose votes were not counted included Hafiz Ammar Yasir, Shuja Nawaz, Muhammad Abdullah Warraich, Parvez Elahi, Muhammad Rizwan, Sajjad Sajid Ahmed Khan, Ehsanullah Chaudhry, Muhammad Afzal, Bismah Chaudhry, and Khadija Umar.
The assembly session presided over by Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari began with the recitation of the Quran and its translation, the Dawn reported. (IANS/ANI)
