Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has ruled out the possibility of “minus-one formula” in ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which he claimed opposition parties were seeking to exclude Prime Minister Imran Khan from the government.
“No room for minus one formula in PTI no one can replace Imran Khan in PTI because he founded the party in the same way Bilawal can never replace Zulfikar Ali Bhutto [PPP founder] and Shehbaz Sharif cannot be an alternative to Nawaz Sharif,” he said on Friday while addressing a press conference.
His statement comes after MQM-P, which is an ally of PTI, said that the incumbent government may complete its tenure but PM Imran unlikely to survive the no-trust motion tabled by the opposition in the National Assembly.
“We will fight no-confidence through constitutional and political means I am confident that allies will not withdraw their support from government,” said Qureshi.
Qureshi said he had worked with the PML-Q in the past and he was aware of their political acumen. “Allies can never trust PML-N as everyone knows they never fulfil their commitments.”
He also said that the PTI-led government was not imposing governor’s rule in the Sindh. “PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari should not worry, we do not have any intention of imposing governor rule in Sindh,” the FM added.
Qureshi also urged the group of dissident lawmakers to review their decision of joining the opposition camp against PM Imran and asked them to return to their party. “I don’t want to discuss the [allegations] of horse-trading, bags full of money and others but asking them to calm yourselves and then make decision,” he added.
Qureshi said speculations were made about the government’s allies, but he had been consistently saying that they would not leave the PTI. “I know the Chaudhrys. They will not make an emotional decision, rather will take political decisions as they know how much room the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has for them.”
The PML-N, he said, created hurdles in the way of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) in 2018 and as it (PML-N) had majority in Punjab, it would remove the PML-Q from power whenever it wanted. Likewise, he said, everybody knew the treatment meted out to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement by the Pakistan People’s Party in Sindh.
Qureshi said those, who were elected on the symbol of “bat” and were sitting in the Sindh House, knew the requirements of law and the Constitution.
The PML-N had never fulfilled the promises it made with the people for the award of tickets, he said, adding he would ask his colleagues not to sit in the lap of political opponents and look at the situation coolly.
He said he was seeing that the winds of change were blowing in Sindh. He said the opposition should ponder over the situation in Afghanistan. India could not give a reason for accidental firing of a missile into Pakistan, he added.
