PPP's Qamar Zaman Qaira says PDM 'lifeless' after party's exit

• JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah responds to Kaira, says "PDM is still active, thriving without the presence of PPP".
• Kaira says if PML-N serious about "respect the vote", slogan, they should "end their backdoor contacts."
• Kaira says "only solution to resolving all of Pakistan's problems is to send the Imran Khan home."

PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday slammed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and said that the alliance has been rendered "lifeless" ever since the PPP decided to part ways with it.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, Kaira criticised the PML-N and said that if the party has sincere intentions regarding their slogan of "respect the vote", then they should "end their backdoor contacts" with the government. 

"Neither the PML-N is sincere about its slogan of respecting the vote nor is the ruling PTI serious about creating the promised Naya Pakistan," Kaira said as he killed two birds with one stone. 

Kaira went on to say that the people of Lahore will no longer be "led astray by the PML-N and the PTI," adding that "deceptive politics involving backdoor connections will no longer be tolerated."

Speaking about the government, Kaira said that today, the same sort of anti-government slogans are being raised against the ruling PTI that it had resorted to using when it was part of the Opposition. 

"Since the government has lost all hopes [of winning people's confidence] they have now resorted to using the slogan of Riyasat-e-Madinah," he said, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan is trying to become another Zia-ul-Haq by using the religion card.

"The soaring prices of sugar and flour in the country is proof of the incumbent government's incompetence," Kaira said. "The only solution to resolving all of Pakistan's problems is to send the Imran Khan home."

It is worth noting that Kaira's remarks came hours after the PML-N, the PPP, and other parties of the Opposition decided to join hands and stage a protest against the ruling government in the Parliament. On Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif also hosted a dinner for Opposition leaders in which PPP Chairman Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari, JUI-F's Molana Asad, ANP's Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, and others were in attendance. 

'PDM is still active, thriving without presence of PPP': Hamdullah 

Responding to Kaira's comments against the PDM, JUI-F leader Maulana Hafiz Hamdullah said that the "PDM is still active and thriving without the presence of the PPP."

He said that it was the PPP that had stabbed the PDM in the back for the sake of winning the position of the Opposition Leader in the Senate.

"The day when the Senate was about to issue a notification about the leader of the opposition, PPP representatives were having breakfast at Jati Umrah," he said as he aside Kaira to provide an explanation.

"By criticizing the PDM, the PPP is opposing the Opposition, not the government," Hamdullah maintained. 

He went on to say that if the PPP wants to return to the PDM, it should contact Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other leaders of the Opposition's alliance. 

"Don't bite the hand that feeds you," Hamdullah reminded the PPP.