F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: PML-N President and former prime minister Shehabz Sharif has said that his party will sit on the Opposition benches if independents formed a government at the Centre.
Addressing a news conference in Lahore on Tuesday, Shehbaz Sharif said independent winners in general elections are welcome to show majority in the National Assembly and the PML-N will accept it.
Responding to a question, Shehbaz Sharif said the PML-N is in contact with PPP, MQM-P and JUI. “Consultations are going on. We will unite them all under the leadership of Mian Sahib (Nawaz Sharif,” he added.
The former premier reiteration that Nawaz Sharif will become a prime minister for fourth time. “I am sticking to it,” he added.
Responding to a query, Shehbaz Sharif declared that there were no two opinions on the fact that the PML-N had attained simple majority in Punjab. “But despite this, Nawaz Sharif has decided to talk to other political parties and form a government with consensus,” he added.
He further said talks were underway with other political parties for a coalition government, about which a decision would only be announced after evolving consensus.
While noting rigging allegations in every general elections, Shehbaz asked “Which election is there where allegations of rigging were not made?”
Praising the Election Commission for holding Feb 8 election, he said on election night, on the basis of a mere 10-12 percent of results, there was a declaration that independents were winning and parties were losing, which was “inappropriate”. “On one hand there are allegations of rigging but then independents are winning and we are losing. This is contradictory,” he said.
Shehbaz further said “So please, elections have happened and it was proven that out of political parties, PML-N is the biggest party. If you count independents, then their number is obviously greater — but in political parties PML-N is number one.”
Shehbaz said the time has come to heal the nation’s wounds, highlighting that this could only be done when everyone comes and works together. “We need to turn pain into happiness, we need to turn hatred into love, we need to turn differences into discussions, we will have to bury the bitterness and sit together to find the solution to all the problems,” he added.
The former prime minister said “In the name of God, in the name of Pakistan, we should show the world that we have learned our lesson and we will make Pakistan a country that was envisioned by Iqbal and Quaid.”
Brushing aside rigging allegations again, Shehbaz highlighted that in several areas PML-N stalwarts lost and independents won. “In KP, the majority is of independent candidates, does it mean they won through rigging. And in Sindh and Balochistan, there was no sign of independents,” he said.
“On behalf of my party, independents are free, if they want to make a government, go ahead. We will sit in the opposition and fulfil our role,” he said and added all the political parties in the Parliament were engaged, adding he had a conversation with Sardar Khalid Magsi of Balochistan. “Now our fight is against inflation, poverty, terrorism and unemployment.”
Shehbaz said after the party lost in 2018, it did not abuse anyone or hold any sit-ins. “We went to Parliament with black armbands. Who doesn’t know that the election was stolen? We didn’t say we would set Parliament on fire or give the nation a message of civil disobedience.”
He said the-opposition had kept aside political differences for the sake of Pakistan. “When we talked about a charter of democracy, in my maiden speech I was ridiculed,” he recalled.
Shehbaz further further said that Imran Khan used to enter the Assembly from a “secret door” so he did not have to shake hands. “We sacrificed politics to save the country. Otherwise, the PTI government had led the country to default,” he said.
Talking about independent candidates Shehbaz said, “If they call themselves PTI-sponsored or non-PTI-sponsored — if they can form a government then they should. The president will not give them an invitation.”
He further said: “If they can show the majority in the Assembly then we will gladly sit in the opposition benches and play the constitutional role. If they cannot make a government, then obviously other political parties will make a decision with consensus and field a candidate. This is the constitutional way. We need to move forward like this and finalise the upcoming phase.”
He said the February 8 polls were held despite concerns regarding weather and the security situation. He also recognised the role played by law enforcement agencies in safeguarding the people on election day.
He noted that baseless allegations were also levelled against the Election Commission of Pakistan.
