Pakistan principal opposition parties Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan People's Party join hands to move no-trust motion against ruling Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.
After almost a year of strained relations over the issue of en masse resignations from assemblies, the top PPP and PML-N leadership met in Lahore on Saturday and agreed to leave the thorny issue behind for a common cause — sending Prime Minister Imran Khan home — and pledged to weigh all options to achieve the goal, including a no-confidence move and joint long march, as noted by Dawn. Former president Asif Ali Zardari and his son PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari met PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and vice president Maryam Nawaz over lunch in Model Town and discussed different options put forward by both the parties to oust the PTI government. Analysts say this appears to be a serious move by the opposition parties to achieve their target in a long time.
It was a rare sight that Zardari visited the residence of Sharif exclusively to see him. Earlier, the PPP co-chairman would only call on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif here.
During the meeting, PML-N leader Maryam Sharif connected the elder Zardari with her father, Nawaz, over the phone and both talked about moving together for a common cause.
After the meeting, Shehbaz confirmed to journalists outside his house at a joint media talk with Bilawal that there was a "difference of opinion" within his party over the issue of a no-confidence motion against the PTI government, which had pretty much cleared now, according to Dawn.
"The PPP was always clear about a no-confidence motion against the federal government, but the PML-N had a difference of opinion. But now there has been a consensus to a large extent in the party. This proposal will be presented before the PML-N's central executive committee (CEC) and supremo Nawaz Sharif in a couple of days," Shehbaz Sharif announced.
According to the PML-N, the party president spoke to Nawaz, over the phone and told him about the meeting with the PPP leadership. Shehbaz also spoke to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the president of the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and told him about the meeting. He said the PDM would be taken into confidence about the PML-N's contacts with the PPP.
Both the PPP and PML-N have announced separate long marches to Islamabad with the former's starting on Feb 27 and the latter's March 23. Both parties have not yet confirmed whether they will stage a sit-in after reaching the capital, as noted by Dawn.
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