Marriyum Aurangzeb says nation to hear 'good news' soon on no-confidence motion against PM Imran

Opposition parties were mulling tabling a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan and that the nation would soon hear good news in this regard, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Friday.  

She told reporters that an important meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was scheduled for later today where key decisions regarding a no-trust move and the long march to Islamabad will be taken.

The remarks from the PML-N spokesperson come a day after party Vice President Maryam Nawaz said the situation for tabling a no-confidence motion against PM Imran was now "favourable".

Former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had met PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam last week in Lahore and pledged to weigh all options to send the premier home, including a no-confidence move and a joint long march.

However, the PML-N’s Central Executive Committee meeting on Monday remained unable to decide on moving a no-confidence motion against the PTI government, leaving it to supreme party leader Nawaz Sharif to take a call on the matter when he deemed appropriate.

In a press talk in Islamabad on Thursday, Maryam admitted that Nawaz was initially not in favour of a no-confidence move against the government. But, she said, "party members pressed him that people's wishes ought to be listened to as it is the only way to steer the country out of crisis."

During today's press conference, Aurangzeb also commented on the awards distributed by the premier among the best performing federal ministries.

She said the ceremony showed that ministries that were mandated to provide relief to the masses had "failed miserably" as they were not among those recognised by PM Imran. "Ministries including health, defence, foreign affairs, economy and law have all failed," she said.

The PML-N spokesperson also lashed out at the prime minister for allegedly using state machinery to put party President Shehbaz Sharif behind bars.

She said that PM Imran had recently appointed a new head of the Asset Recovery Unit, previously headed by former aide Mirza Shahzad Akbar, and tasked him with imprisoning Shehbaz within a few weeks.

"I want to tell the Federal Investigation Agency officers and other law enforcement personnel to learn from Shahzad Akbar's case and listen to their conscience," she said, referring to the controversy around Akbar's resignation.

She said billions of rupees had been squandered in the name of the government's anti-corruption drive which had yielded no results.

"Had this amount been spent on the welfare of the masses, the people would not be suffering due to inflation," she said.

Calling PM Imran's advisers "rented aides", the PML-N leader said advisers who were singing his praises would disappear once the prime minister was removed from power.

She said that the government had utilised all its resources to imprison Shehbaz, but the opposition leader had been given a clean chit in all the cases against him.

She went on to say that the government was attempting to portray the court fixing the date for Shehbaz and his son's indictment in the money laundering case as if the charges against the opposition leader had been proven.

"It means the court is asking the prosecution to furnish more evidence as the current evidence is insufficient. This is actually the first step of a trial," she said, adding that the party had gone through similar indictments in other cases and later secured bails.

The PML-N leader said the entire narrative of the PTI government regarding corruption had been exposed.