New Pakistan government not to indulge in ‘politics of revenge’: Sharif

PTI

Islamabad, April 10

Shehbaz Sharif, the joint opposition’s candidate for the post of prime minister, on Sunday vowed that the new government in Pakistan want to “move forward” and not indulge in “politics of revenge”.

Addressing the National Assembly soon after 174 lawmakers voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan after a day of high drama in the lower house of Parliament, the President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, said that no one would interfere in the affairs of law and justice and would run the institutions together.

“I don’t want to go back to bitterness of the past. We want to forget them and move forward. We will not take revenge or do injustice; we will not send people to jail for no reason, law and justice will take its course,” the 70-year-old former chief minister of Punjab province said.

The younger brother of PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif gratitude to other Opposition leaders, including Asif Ali Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, for their relentless struggle for upholding the rule of law and constitution which, he added, had finally yielded fruits.

Nawaz Sharif, 72, was first disqualified and then convicted on corruption charges. His younger brother, Shehbaz, is also accused of corruption. But the Sharif brothers have dismissed the allegations of corruption as “politically motivated” by the government led by Khan.

In his address, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he would like to congratulate the whole nation and the House, “as for the first time in the history of the country, a no-confidence motion has succeeded and we have made history”.

He recalled what had happened on April 10, adding that on this day, the country approved the 1973 Constitution.

“On April 10, 1986, Benazir Bhutto ended her self-imposed exile and arrived in Lahore to launch her struggle against Ziaul Haq,” said Bilawal, son of Pakistan’s first woman prime minister and ex-president Zardari.

On April 10, 2022, the person who was declared “selected” by the Opposition and proved himself to be an “undemocratic burden” on the country saw the end of his rule, he said, referring to Khan.

“Today [on] April 20, 2022, we welcome [you] back to the purana Pakistan,” said Bilawal, in a jibe at Khan following the adoption of a no-confidence vote against him.

Khan, who came to power in 2018 with promises to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’, was unceremoniously removed from the office, becoming the first premier in the country’s history to be ousted through a no-trust motion.

“I have a message for the Pakistani youth that they should never give up on their dreams as nothing is impossible. Democracy is the best revenge. Pakistan Zindabad,” said Bilawal.

Meanwhile, the lone lawmaker from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)present in the House, Ali Muhammad Khan in an emotional speech defended the tenure of the cricketer-turned-politician as the prime minister of the country, saying that the ousted premier paid the price for pursuing the ‘independent foreign policy’.

“I am proud of my leader that he did not bow down before West and fought till the end… he will return to the power with two-third majority,” he added.

“Imran Khan talked about a Muslim bloc, that’s his sin. Imran Khan talked about an independent foreign policy, that’s his sin ... Russia [visit] is just an excuse, the real target has always been Imran Khan,” Ali said.

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