Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman have reportedly held telephone conversations to discuss PDM’s way forward after losses in elections for Senate chairman and deputy chairman positions.
Sources with knowledge of the conversations say the three leaders agreed to investigate the real reasons behind their loss in the elections.
Victory for both the government-backed candidates for the top Senate slots is considered a major shock for the anti-government 11-party alliance, which had stunned the government when it won the federal capital’s seat in the Senate elections on March 3. The victory forced Prime Minister Imran Khan to take a vote of confidence from the National Assembly.
Yet Friday’s defeat despite a clear majority in the House put the PDM on the back foot and gave much-needed respite to the government.
The JUI-F amir, during today’s telephonic interaction, discussed the opposition’s upcoming long march on Islamabad to topple the government of Prime Minister Imran.
Zardari assured the other two of strict action against PPP senators if they were found involved in deliberately wasting their votes.
Sharif also reportedly reiterated that the establishment was behind the crisis and suggested checking telephone data of senators who received anonymous calls from unknown numbers and of those who had met with any government personality or its candidate.
Maulana Fazl was surprised that votes rejected during the election for the Senate chairman were later polled in favour of the government-backed candidate in the election for the deputy chairman.
Contesting elections will not solve problems under these circumstances, he was quoted as saying. “An impression is being created among people that we are not fighting for their rights,” he added.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz has met his father and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. The political situation emerging following the Senate elections was discussed in the meeting.
With the opposition announcing that they would challenge the results and the government claiming a moral victory against the PDM, the political temperature is expected to remain high in the coming days.
PDM also announced an emergency all-party conference on Monday to review the Senate debacle. All parties have been directed to send their leaders to the conference.
The leaders will discuss the prevailing political situation and present a report on behalf of their parties regarding the defeat.
