Long march led by Maryam, Hamza to be in capital on 27th

ISLAMABAD: A long march, led by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz leaders, Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shehbaz, will enter the federal capital on March 27, and stage a sit-in at the Constitution Avenue, according to PMLN Punjab President Rana Sanaullah here on Friday.

Addressing a press conference, he said the long march would start from Lahore on March 24. It would enter Rawalpindi on March 26, and Islamabad on March 27, and the participant would stay on the Constitution Avenue. "We will not leave the Constitution Avenue without getting the result of no-confidence move on March 28," Rana Sana said.

Responding to allegations being levelled by the interior minister and information minister about the use of money to purchase loyalties of government's parliamentarians, he challenged ministers to come up with evidence and have a debate with him on any television channel.

"There is no question of giving money to the dissident PTI members, as none of them had made such demand," he said, adding that neither threats nor requests, being made by the government to its angry members, would work.

In response to information minister's claims that dissident members would have to pass through mob of one million PTI workers, he said the opposition's activists would also be there to face the situation.

Coming down hard on National Assembly speaker, the PMLN leader said that he was acting like a member of Imran Khan's tiger forces instead of playing his role as the custodian of the National Assembly.

To a question, he said his party would have much space to adjust at least a dozen PTI members with whom the PMLN was in contact. "We will certainly make political adjustment with them," Rana Sana said.

Separately, PMLN Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said the government’s people were in immense frustration since the opposition parties submitted no-trust resolution in the National Assembly.

Talking to the media, he said the same ministers who were claiming to defeat opposition's no-trust move were now escaping from the National Assembly session. "As the PTI-led government has also already lost support of 10 of its members, Imran Khan was now below the magic number of 172," he said.

He said the Constitution does not restrain any MNA from using his/her vote during the no-confidence resolution voting. "Constitution is very clear that every member can use his vote according to his will," he said, adding that action against a member could be taken by his party only after the use of vote.

The PMLN criticised appointment of prime minister's principal secretary to the World Bank, Ahsan Iqbal said now there was no constitutional or legal justification of his decisions or directives. "Neither Imran Khan can take any policy decision now nor the bureaucracy should implement his decisions anymore," he added. He reiterated that the opposition, through the use of its constitutional right, would remove Imran Khan from the government.