'Time has come for the final push,' Maryam Nawaz to PM Imran Khan

"Today, under the leadership of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, we are here to bid you farewell," Maryam tells PM Imran

Web Desk

March 28, 2022

Maryam Nawaz says Opposition in Islamabad to bid farewell to PM Imran Khan.
Maryam says prime minister sacrificed Usman Buzdar to save "sinking ship".
She says PM has not only lost National Assembly's confidence, but his party's as well.

ISLAMABAD: PML-N Vice President Maryam said Monday the time for giving Prime Minister Imran Khan the "final push" towards his defeat has come.

The PML-N vice president, addressing a jalsa of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in the federal capital, launched a scathing attack on the prime minister, in which she criticised his economic, governance, and foreign policies.

Earlier today, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif tabled the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the lower house — making him the third premier in Pakistan's history to face the move.

The government seems to be cornered as two allies — BAP and JWP — have parted ways with it, while PML-Q's Tariq Bashir Cheema has also announced that he will not vote in favour of the prime minister.

Meanwhile, in her address to the jalsa, Maryam said the Opposition's rally in Islamabad has been held to say "goodbye" to the prime minister as he had not only lost the confidence of the National Assembly but that of his party as well.

"Today, under the leadership of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, we are here to bid you farewell," the PML-N vice president said, adding: "The person who starts his morning with abusive words ultimately faces a humiliating end."

Maryam asked whether a person who had "lost the confidence" of his party and the Parliament, was eligible to hold the prime minister's office. "No," she said.

'Humiliating end'

The PML-N vice president said the party which loses by-elections —despite being in power — ultimately "faces a humiliating end".

Taking a jibe at the prime minister over the March 27 rally held at the Parade Ground, she said the PTI was not even able to gather 10,000 people, let alone 100,000.

She challenged the premier to amass the support of 172 members in the National Assembly to survive the no-confidence motion instead of boasting about amassing one million people at a rally.

The PML-N vice president said PM Imran Khan was an "ungrateful" person as he used his party members to save his "sinking ship".

Maryam said the premier, instead of stepping down from office, sacrificed Usman Buzdar, forcing him to resign from his position as the chief minister.

Hours earlier, a PML-Q delegation had met PM Imran Khan at Bani Gala, where the prime minister offered Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi the Punjab chief minister's office.

The PML-Q leader accepted the offer, and the party is expected to back the prime minister in the no-confidence motion — but Cheema's vote hangs in the balance due to his reservations.

"There is no one more ungrateful than Imran Khan," Maryam said, adding that he "utilised" disgruntled PTI leaders Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan's money to his advantage.

'Magic and psychic powers'

Moving on, Maryam said no foreign powers were working against the incumbent government as the prime minister himself was the "biggest threat" to the country.

"Did [US President] Joe Biden ask your party lawmakers to leave your side?" she asked the prime minister about his disgruntled MNAs who have announced to vote in favour of the Opposition's no-confidence motion.

Criticising the PM, she asked whether it was "foreign powers" who had told him to "resort to using magic and psychic powers."

She said that if there is a foreign conspiracy going on against Pakistan, "Imran Khan is the biggest facilitator of that conspiracy".