If PPP has 57 senators: No-trust against Senate chairman be moved, says Shahid Khaqan

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday offered the PPP leadership to sponsor a no-confidence move against the Senate Chairman.

“We offer PPP to capture seat of the Senate chairman and reverse the stolen elections to pick custodian of the House by bringing a no-confidence move against the chairman,” the PML-N leader while talking to newsmen here said.

He said it was on record that 57 Senators in writing at the time of nomination of the opposition leader admitted that they were opposition members. “The members sitting on government benches cannot be considered as the opposition members,” he said.

He pointed out that three independent members had already given in writing that they were now part of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

Congratulating PPP on securing the slot of the opposition leader, Shahid Khan Abbasi observed what the PPP leadership did was against the parliamentary norms. He recalled that a sub-committee of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had taken decisions about the opposition leader in the Senate at a meeting held at his residence.

He said that as to how the government could expect electoral reform by the House where the Prime Minister and cabinet members use abusive language for their opponents.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also questioned partiality of the Speaker Asad Qaisar. He said the Speaker was also aware of the fact that he had lost confidence of the opposition benches. “He should decide whether he is Speaker of government or Speaker of all the members,” Abbasi said.

He maintained that his party’s parliamentarians would neither listen to the Speaker nor would become members of any committees to be constituted by him.

The PML-N leader also referred to speech of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly after securing vote of confidence in the House. “As per rules, a personality not present in the House should not be discussed on its floor but the Speaker must remember Prime Minister’s speech after securing fake vote of confidence from the National Assembly,” he said and also demanded an apology from the Speaker. However, he asked Leader of the House to take the National Assembly into confidence as to what kind of electoral reforms he desires.

On issue of Broadsheet, the former prime minister said the facts were very clear that a NAB chairman reached an agreement with the company. “The facilitators and those who got commission should be taken to task,” he said.